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The Rice Raiders held their Athletic Award Banquet in their auditorium on Monday, May 6, and several athletes went home as the MVP for their respective sport.
Starting things off was the male and female athlete of the year and RJ Myers and Tatianna Mills were selected for those honors. Both athletes have a lot of respect throughout the athletic buildings at Rice Consol idated ISD and on Monday they were recognized for everything they did this season.
Mills’ night was just getting started though as she was named the MVP for the basketball and track team. The responses from her teammates in the crowd for the award ceremony was very telling about Mills’ impact on these teams and further justified the coach’s decision to choose her.
The cheerleading squad was recognized for always bringing the school spirit to every event they were at. Abigail Hoelscher was named MVP of the cheerleading squad for being a big part of that because she always brought great energy when cheering and her coaches took note.
Next was the cross-country male and female MVPs which were Peter Thompson and Lexia Rangel. Both athletes were in the front half of every group while running at meets this season, not only that, but they did a great job challenging themselves and teammates in practice.
Tatianna Mills was named the Female Athlete of the Year.
In soccer, Melanie Gutierrex was selected as the MVP, but Ariana Palacios and Brooke Ford were named defensive and offensive MVP. Despite the lack of success of the soccer field these girls made sure they were doing their part to make this team improve every time they stepped on the field.
The volleyball team named Tricelle Fields their MVP for the season with Kimberly Hernandes being selected as the defensive MVP. Fields was an outstanding veteran presence as one of the only seniors on the roster so her being selected as MVP was met with a roaring ovation from the underclassmen on the volleyball team.
Robert Bennett was selected as the MVP for the basketball team as a sophomore. Bennett was a big part of the Raiders success on the basketball court, leading the way on both sides of the floor and being one of the best point guards in the district.
Joining Bennett was Jalen Porch was awarded the Fighting Heart Award for being the only senior. Porch showed throughout the season what it means to be a leader and sacrificed his body every game to help his team win.
The football team had a few awards to hand out, but it was D’Neriyan Fuller that walked away with the MVP award. Fuller was a big-time playmaker for the Raiders this past season and with such a young team coaches pointed out Fuller’s consistency, both on and off the field, as a big reason why he was chosen.
The softball and baseball MVPs were players that always showed up and played their hearts out for teams that struggled mightily to collect wins. Paige Eggemeyer was selected for softball and Aaron Drlik and Glenn Mills were picked for baseball.
Eggemeyer was a player for the softball team that took those tough lessons the team learned to heart. She used it to consistently improve throughout the season but was also a major producer for the Lady Raiders on the softball field. As for Drlik and Mills they were more in that leadership role that helped keep this team steady through a lot of tough times, it was an easy decision for their coach because they were so important to the growth they saw on the baseball field as a team.
Last but certainly not least was the boys’ track MVP and it was Jael Valles Serrano. He was one of the top runners not only for the Raiders but in the entire state. When discussing the 800m track event in Texas, people must mention Serrano’s name, but also, he was such a fierce teammate that encouraged and supported his teammates and encompassed what it means to be a truly valuable player.
