2019 WHS Senior Scholar Athletes Receive Awards at Evening Presentation

Wilton High School held its annual Senior Sports Awards evening last night (Tuesday, June 11), presenting scholarship awards to standout athletes in the graduating senior and junior classes.

Each year two seniors–one female, one male–are recognized for their excellence in academics, athletics and character which are considered the school’s most prestigious senior sports awards given to WHS student-athletes.

For the 2018-2019 academic year, senior Delia Freliech–who plays soccer, basketball and lacrosse–received the Melissa Nickel Award, presented to the senior female who excels in academics, athletics and community service, in memory of the attitude and spirit of Melissa Nickel, the WHS freshman who was struck and killed by a vehicle while waiting for her school bus in 1985.

This year’s Lt. John G. Corr Memorial Scholarship was awarded to senior Kyle Phillips (football, basketball and baseball), who was chosen by the Corr scholarship directors as the WHS student who “best personifies the devotion to his studies, the participation in sports, the qualities of true leadership and the exemplary personal character and patriotism of the man whose name it bears.” The award was established 51 years ago, after Wilton’s Lt. John G. Corr was killed while serving in Vietnam.

There were several other awards and recognitions handed out yesterday evening as well:

The Arthur J. Wall, Jr., Scholarship is awarded to a male and female athlete who best exemplify the characteristics of its namesake and who have selflessly given back to the community. This year’s recipients were Kaitlin Reif and Ryan Schriber.

The Alex Balitsos Memorial Sportsmanship Scholarship was established last year in memory of 26-year-old former WHS athlete Alex Balitsos, who passed away in October 2017. The seniors whose sportsmanship was recognized were Gerri Fox and Ryan Schriber.

Two seniors received the PFC. Nicholas A. Madaras Memorial Scholarship, established by the Wilton Soccer Association to honor U.S. Army Private First Class Nick Madaras, a soccer player, coach and referee who was killed in action while serving in Iraq on Sept. 3, 2006. The scholarship recognizes soccer players who best embody the leadership, commitment, sportsmanship and teamwork that Nick Madaras demonstrated throughout his life. The two recipients from the Class of 2019 were Clayton Latone and Kace Stewart.

The T.J. Pramer Memorial Scholarship Award pays tribute to former student T.J. Pramer, a former member of the ski and lacrosse teams, who passed away in 2008. This award was presented to Jake Stein.

The CT Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) presents two awards annually. From the CIAC website, the first award, the CIAC Scholar Athlete Award, “…recognizes two high school seniors–one boy and one girl–from each member high school whose academic and athletic careers have been exemplary, whose personal standards and achievements are a model to others, and who possess high levels of integrity, self-discipline and courage.” The 2018-19 honorees were Emma Rothkopf and Kyle Phillips (awarded prior to the ceremony).

The second CIAC award is the CIAC Award of Excellence, an award given to rising seniors. This year four recipients were given the award: Patricia Dineen, Zoe Rappaport, Drew Phillips and Kyle Hyzy.

The other awards presented Tuesday evening were:

Athletic Department Team Dedication Award:  Yanny Garcia and Brian Tsui

Field Hockey Achievement Award:  Emma Rothkopf

Volleyball Boosters Awards:  Juliana Musilli and Cate McCabe

Warrior Spirit Award:  Angela Xie and Samantha Tait

Gymnastics Boosters Awards:  Taylor White, Jessica Olin, Alyssa Jarrett, Samantha Huffman and Brooke Taffler

Swimming and Diving Outstanding Senior Athlete Award:  Katherine Stevenson, Taylor Loud and Ryan Looney

Basketball Boosters’ Club Award–Bowman Cup:  Kaitlin Reif and Nicholas Kronenberg

Ski Team Scholarship Award:  Emily O’Brien and August Theoharides

Marce Lavin Scholarship–Boys Ice Hockey:  Brandon Jonsson

Bill Terry Memorial Softball Award:  Hannah Bellanger and Sophia Strazza

Softball Scholar Athlete:  Juliana Musilli

WBSA Booster Awards–WBSA Scholar Athlete:  Kyle Phillips

WBSA Booster Awards–Andrew Dunn Scholarship:  Lucas Uriarte

Lou Gehrig Award:  Cole Judelson

Girls’ Tennis Association Award:  Geri Fox

Boys’ Tennis Association Award:  Conrad Emerson and Ian Kolupaev

Wilton Soccer Achievement Award:  Alex Brichkowski and Kace Stewart

Lacrosse Association Outstanding Athletes:  Julia Skillin and Tyler Previte

Track Association Scholar Athletes:  Emily Welch, Tyler Daher, Margaret Fiesel, Eliza Snyder and Anna Rava

Four-Year Scholar Athletes–awarded to four-year athletes who maintain a 3.75 GPA or higher for seven semesters:

Grace Bracken
Grace Bronner
Madeline Burke
Arisa Cowe
John Cromwell
Gerri Fox
Ryan Gehrlein
Nancy Healy
Samantha Huffman
Isabella King
Nicholas Koenigsberger 
Alex Li
Daniel Ottavi
Kyle Phillips
Emma Rothkopf
Madison Schattenfield
Kace Stewart
Emily Welch
Taylor White 
Tyler Zengo