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On Tuesday, May 9, the Rice athletics program held their annual Athletic Awards Assembly to recognize a host of players and athletes who had successful seasons and contributed to Rice’s forward steps in athletics this season. The theme of the night was the hope Rice has for the future as many of the featured teams had little to no seniors on their respective squads, as well as a plethora of young players hoping to take another step forward next school year. Many awards were given throughout the night as there were several general award recipients as well as awards given out for each team.
The general awards spanned across every sport with any student enrolled in athletics being eligible to claim them. The big award of the night, boys and girls MVP, went to athletes that showed excellence throughout the year and contributed a high level of personal success to their respective programs. The boys’ overall MVP was Kejun Wilson, and the girls had Co-MVPs as Bradi Freeman and Reagan Nelson shared the honor.
There were also many special character awards named after different candies that related to the trait being recognized. The Smarties award for academic excellence went to Victor Flores for the boys and Bradi Freeman for the girls. Hayes Dingler for the boys and Breelyn Freeman for the girls both received the Jolly Rancher award for their good attitudes and jovial demeanor. The Dove award went to Payton Englebrecht and Blanca Molina for their peacekeeping tendencies. The Raiders’ Gage Norris and the Lady Raiders’ Brooke Ford won the 3 Musketeers award for displaying good teamwork and working well with others. The Mr. Goodbar award went to Jael Valles and Arianna Palacios for making good choices off the field. Luis Tellez and Leilani Torres earned the Lifesaver award for their willingness to help out where needed for their respective teams. Roger Gradney and Vanessa Marquez won the 100 Grand award for giving maximum effort for their squads. The Almond Joy award went to Kejun Wilson and Hanna Schendel for going about their business with a joyful nature.
Each individual sport also gave out their own awards as they featured their teams and highlighted some of the bright spots of their respective seasons. The Raiders’ track team awarded the Outstanding Runner award to Kejun Wilson, and they gave the Outstanding Fielder award to state-qualifier Robert Myers. The Lady Raiders’ track team gave just a single award, the MVP, to Tatianna Mills for her efforts this season.
Rice basketball had MVP awards for both the boys and the girls. The boys’ MVP was Jalen Porch, while the Raider Heart award went to his teammate, Jon Woods. The girls’ MVP went to Tricelle Fields, one of the few upperclassmen on the Lady Raiders. Beautiful Johnson earned the Defensive MVP for the Lady Raiders as a freshman on varsity.
The baseball and softball teams each gave out a most-improved award as well as an MVP award. The boys recognized Jalen Porch as the most-improved player, while Aaron Drlik and Daedrick Johnson shared the MVP award. Kim Hernandez was the Lady Raiders’ most improved player, while Ava Torres and Beautiful Johnson claimed the Co-MVP award.
Rice powerlifting awarded their MVP awards to a handful of lifters who made it all the way to the state level. The boys’ MVP award went to John Mendoza, and the girls’ MVP was split amongst three more state-qualifiers: Bradi Freeman, Reagan Nelson and Vanessa Marquez.
The Raider football team gave out awards for nearly every phase of the ball. The overall MVP award was given to D’Neriyan Fulller and Daedrick Johnson as the two players made strong contributions to this year’s offensive attack. Zane Zbranek claimed the Defensive MVP award as an All-District defensive player. The Outstanding Quarterback award went to senior starter Rafael Herrera, and the Special Teams MVP and Offensive Line MVP went to Roger Gradney and Ethan Luna respectively.
The Lady Raiders’ volleyball team awarded an overall MVP as well as a defensive MVP. Abigail Hoelscher claimed the MVP award as one of the veterans on the squad, while Ariana Palacios earned the Defensive MVP.
Raider soccer gave out MVP awards for the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, as well as an overall MVP for the highest performing players. The boys’ and girls’ overall MVP awards went to Angel Gonzalez and Brooke Ford respectively. The Offensive MVPs were Josue Belman for the boys and Julia Tolbert for the girls. The Defensive MVP went to the Raiders’ Gus Peacock and the Lady Raiders’ Ariana Palacios.
The cross-country team awarded Kejun Wilson the MVP for the boys and Leilany Toriz the MVP for the girls. Taylor Rohan earned the golf girls’ MVP while Lance Hasley earned the boys’ MVP. Rice tennis gave Noah Gonzalez the boys MVP while Bradi Freeman and Reagan Nelson shared the girls MVP.
