WHS Senior Scholar Athletes Receive Awards at Evening Presentation

Wilton High School held its annual Senior Sports Awards evening last night (Tuesday, July 12), presenting scholarship awards to standout athletes in the graduating senior class.

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 2017-2018 academic year, senior Julia Bonnist 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 Jack DiNanno, 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.

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 Addie Tanzman and Kyle Maatallah.

The Alex Balitsos Memorial Sportsmanship Scholarship was established just this 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 Elizabeth Lynch and Zachary Zeyher.

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 2017-18 class were Kevin Connolly and John Zizzadoro.

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 2017-18 honorees were Morgan McCormick and Kyle Maatallah.

The second CIAC award is the CIAC Award of Excellence, an award given to rising seniors. This year the award was given to Delia Freliech and Kyle Phillips.

The other awards presented Tuesday evening were:

Field Hockey Achievement Award:  Sophia Kaplan

Warrior Spirit Award:  Elizabeth Costello and Caitrin Masone

Volleyball Boosters Awards:  Sommer Rogg and Sophie Phelan

Swimming and Diving Outstanding Senior Athlete:  Jack Lewis and Emily Walden

Basketball Boosters’ Club Award–Bowman Cup:  Claire Gulbin and Robert Hermann

Ski Team Scholarship Award:  Julia Bonnist and Patrick Verrilli

March Lavin Scholarship–Boys Ice Hockey:  Jack DiNanno

Bill Terry Memorial Softball Award:  Isabel Casiraghi

WBSA Booster Award:  WBSA Scholar Athlete–Ryan Gabrielle

WBSA Booster Award:  Bill Terry Scholarship–John Maggio

WBSA Booster Award:  Andrew Dunn Scholarship–Colin Tietjen

Sam Kingston Wrestling Award:  Nick Rende

Girls’ Tennis Association Award:  Cara Kilmartin

Boys’ Tennis Association Award:  Tor Aronson and Owen McKessy

Wilton Soccer Achievement Award:  Taylor Floyd and John Zizzadoro

Lacrosse Association Outstanding Athletes:  Paisley Eagan and Brian Calabrese

Track Association Scholar Athletes:  Christopher Colbert, Richard Dineen, Elizabeth Lynch, Morgan McCormick and Covadonga Perez Paelez

T.J. Pramer Memorial Scholarship Award:  Matthew Arrix

In addition, several students were recognized as four-year scholar-athletes:

Tor Anders Aronson
Harvey D. Alexander
Julia Lee Ballentine
Cameron Hollis Berg
Francesca Ann Cawley
Christopher Joseph Colbert
Kevin William Connolly
Adriana Adele Curtis
Ryan Keever Ettie
Maya Antoinette Fazio
Eva Marie Greco
Ashleigh Press Hawthorne
Claire Adelaide Healey
Jessica Esther Highland
Jonah William Hirsch
Sophia Analee Kaplan
Cara Patricia Kilmartin
Benjamin James Lucas
Elizabeth Lynch
Megan Isabelle Lynch
Kyle Adam Maatallah
Morgan Ayn McCormick
Sophia Isabelle Mercado
Covadonga Perez Pelaez
Lauren Grace Robertson
Tyler William Smith
Christopher Paul Sweeney
Patrick Murray Verrilli
Emily Bennett Walden
Michael David Wallace
Emma Riley Westerholm