Eagle sports awards
Gilpin County High School Winter Sports Banquet 2009-10
The Gilpin County High School Winter Sports Banquet took place in the school cafeteria on Thursday, March 11, at 6:00 p.m. The awards ceremony took place in the school auditorium following the banquet.
Athletic Director Ryan Witzel introduced the winter sports of basketball, cheerleading and wrestling and their respective coaches. The Booster Club received compliments for generously sponsoring the banquet and donating sports gear to the event. Witzel also thanked the cheerleaders, parents, fans, and everyone who had helped with the 2010 sports season. Awards for the season were presented to the student athletes from their coaches.
Gilpin County Eagles Girls High School Basketball Team
First in the awards ceremony was the Lady Eagles Basketball Coach, Jeff “Shu” Schuessler, who presented a heartfelt introduction to his team, beginning with a description of the season in retrospect. The Lady Eagles did well this season with an overall record of eight wins and 13 losses, for a total of 21 games played over three months, making it to the district playoffs.
Shu said a foundation was laid down for future success with his players having been mentally, emotionally and physically tough all year long. The team learned how to compete, how to win and developed an appetite for winning. And that’s where they want to be next year – one of the top ten teams at state.
Coach Shu genuinely thanked many for helping making this season a success, including the seldom-mentioned maintenance staff of Ron Berg and Juanita Essex in doing an outstanding job of keeping the gym floors clean for practice and games. It makes a difference.
Managers Ashlen Cortez, Andi Ramsey, and Trevor Smulders (the video guru), were thanked by Shu for their help and presented with gifts. Shu displayed the special t-shirt he had made up for Smulders with the motif of “T-dogg” on the front that the students gleefully recognized.
Coach Shu gave particular thanks to Assistant Coach Brook Ramsey for the amount of time she put in coaching the team and for the fact that he didn’t need to train her, as she was already a very good, experienced coach.
Schuessler and Ramsey presented their players with certificates and letters, offering commendable comments as well.
Freshmen
Maria Garcia gained recognition as “the most coachable” player who was fun to watch. Garcia earned a team award of “Most Improved Player.”
Samantha Peterson was simply “the best athlete in high school,” and earned the “Eagle Offensive Player Award” from her teammates.
Katura Sales “loves basketball” and the team recognized her with the “Eagle MVP Award.” The Mile-High League also recognized Sales – one of two freshmen – with a place on the 2nd Team All-Conference.
Sophomores
Shelby Foelsch gained confidence throughout the season and averaged the most rebound points. Foelsch also earned a team award of “Most Improved Player.”
Molly Quaranto is “incredibly athletic” and “she really frustrated the other teams” with her great playing. Quaranto earned the team’s “Eagle Defensive Player Award.”
Juniors
Amanda Barngrover missed a year of practice because of attending Warren Tech. She became more confident of her ability throughout the season and “she’s come so far.” Barngrover received the “Coaches’ Award.”
Stephanie Pilcher joined in January, adding to “the depth and strength” of the team.
Seniors
Shauna Corsino earned her second varsity letter and “kept it fun and kept us together.” Corsino earned the “Eagle Attitude Award.” Corsino will be participating in the Mile-High League Senior All-Star Game on April 11 at Front Range Christian High School.
At the conclusion of his presentation, Coach Shu declared that the “next year starts now,” and listed several basketball events scheduled to improve the players’ conditioning, skill and teamwork. A summer camp is scheduled for June 16-19 at Adams State College, with other camps to be announced. Lastly, Shu praised his players with a rousing “Good season, ladies!”
Player Shauna Corsino then took the stage, commenting that “Mr. Shu was the greatest coach we ever had; he cared about us.” Corsino helped present several gifts, including a pink basketball and jewelry, to coaches Shu and Ramsey.
Gilpin County Eagles Boys High School Basketball Team
Coach Paul Hanson thanked everyone who helped out with the sports season, including his assistant coaches Buddy Schmalz and Randy Whiting. George Snyder received special recognition as their consultant. Colton Whiting also took the stage for his great job in videotaping the games.
Hanson congratulated the Lady Eagles on their winning season and making it to the district play-offs. Coach Hanson commented on how it had been a tough season for his team with 1 win and 17 losses. He commended his team on playing hard and showing good sportsmanship. Hanson ended his remarks with “losing is tough,” and guaranteeing they will win more games next year.
Hanson, Schmalz and Whiting handed out the certificates and letters to the team:
Freshmen
Martin Jenkins; Kenny Larson, who always maintained a positive attitude; Vince Marone, “a versatile athlete;” Tyrus Schmalz received praise for being a good player; Kaleb Whiting “always gave a 100% effort and worked hard;” and Michael Yerkman.
Sophomores
Jon Adams received his second year varsity letter and “is a great player;” and Kevin Robertson was identified as being on the “verge of being a great ball player.”
Juniors
Tim Johnson and Samuel Rodriguez, were recognized as two players who “worked hard for us.”
Seniors
Tom Kennedy, who was thanked for playing hard.
Players Jon Adams and Tim Johnson took the stage with Adams remarking how he was proud of everyone this season. They thanked their coaches, presenting gifts from the team to the coaches and Snyder. Adams referred to George Snyder with the unique tribute of “He’s the man!”
Coach Schmalz concluded the boys basketball presentation by speaking about the really strong team they’ll have next year with six freshman returning and only one senior leaving. This was a tough year and they all look eagerly forward to next year.
Next on the stage was Coach Tracy Krug making special mention of one of the most active parents, Lee Ramsey, who has been a “most amazing Eagle!” Ramsey took the stage to audience applause and abashedly remarked that he liked “acting like a squirrel in front of you-all!” He’s been a truly entertaining Eagle mascot at the games, fun to watch with his antics, while showing true black and gold Gilpin spirit!
Gilpin County Eagles High School Cheerleaders
Coach Tracy Krug presented the cheerleaders with their certificates and letters: Amanda Barngrover, Erin Brownson, Cammy Cullar, Katie Shimanskey, Lacey Terry, Aspen Walters, and Kirsten Welch.
Coach Krug reminded the cheerleaders and their parents that there would be a cheerleading camp for both females and males during the summer. The time and date of the camp will be set at a later date.
For her last presentation, Coach Krug commended wrestlers Michael Barngrover and David Yerkman for their participation on this year’s combined Clear Creek-Gilpin sports team as the Clear Creek Golddiggers.
The Booster Club will be sponsoring a basketball camp or shooting clinic this year for both the boys and girls teams. Coach Shu said the “Global Shot Doctor” clinic will take place on Friday, April 16, from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon at the high school. Coach Hanson stated that the clinic coach has 25-30 years of experience in the game and is in a school basketball hall of fame. Both coaches thanked the Booster Club for sponsoring the clinic, allowing school athletes an opportunity to improve their play with instruction by one of the best.
With the conclusion of the Winter Sports Banquet, smiling athletes with their cinch bags stuffed with awards, friends and family contentedly headed for home.