Spartans dish out annual awards

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

Kaylin Larson has never missed an opportunity to don the Spartan colours in her three years at Strathmore High School. And that dedication was recognized during the school’s annual athletic banquet June 12.
Larson took home the senior female Athlete of the Year award for the third time at her grade level.
Undersized along the way, Larson never shied away from sticking her nose into the middle of the action, worked hard for every inch and was a great teammate along the way.
This year, Larson was a key member of the track and field, badminton, basketball, cross country and volleyball teams. Over the years, she attended provincials in basketball and was part of the team that won the high school’s first provincial title in cross-country.
Kaylin also won the Spartan Pride award for basketball, was named the Most Valuable Player for the track team and Most Improved for volleyball.
Meanwhile, one of the most consistent players and one of the best floor generals across a variety of sports earned his second Athlete of the Year award.
Ryan Edwards won the award in Grade 10 and won it again last week, after dominating the hardwood in badminton, basketball and volleyball this season.
Looked upon as one of the leaders in the gym, Edwards was captain of the basketball team and co-captain on the volleyball team.
Like Larson, Edwards competed provincially in basketball and volleyball throughout the years and won a provincial medal in 2017 for badminton doubles.
One of Edwards’ teammates for the past two years, Josh Filipionek, won the Grade 11 male Athlete of the Year award.
Filipionek was one of the busier athletes at the high school, as he competed in badminton, basketball, cross-country, volleyball and golf.
Filipionek was dominant on the links and was recognized as the golf team MVP, and split basketball MVP award with Edwards.
After winning the Grade 10 female Athlete of the Year award last year, Maria Kooistra is two-thirds of the way to pulling off the Kaylin Larson three-peat after she won the award for her Grade 11 year.
The two up-and-coming athletes were Boris Kuljanin and Natalie Funk, who took home the Athlete of the Year award in the Grade 10 level.
Funk used her size to dominate the paint in basketball and the front of the net in volleyball. She also earned a Top 10 finish at the track and field provincials in high jump. She was named rookie of the year in track, volleyball and basketball.
Kuljanin participated in badminton, basketball, cross-country and volleyball.
Each year, the Spartan Pride award is handed out to the male and female athlete that best represent Spartan athletics. This year, the winners were Allie Davidson and Garrett Kopp.
Kopp played the most sports out of any of the major award winners, as he competed on the senior and junior level in basketball and volleyball, along with playing on the football and badminton teams.
Davidson was the leading scorer on the basketball team, ran cross-country and also played volleyball.