BOW VALLEY – Some of the best memories in high school are made on the field.
Banff Community High School (BCHS), Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy (OLS), and Canmore Collegiate High School (CCHS) handed out their annual athlete of the year awards, MVP honours, and leadership awards for students showing excellence on the field, hardwood, and beyond.
For the BCHS Bears, Cam Geyer and Alicia Smith won male and female athlete of the year awards.
Geyer, the Grade 12 captain of the boys’ rugby team, was relied upon for his leadership and never-say-quit mentality on the pitch.
“I’m happy I got the award, it means quite a bit,” said Geyer. “I’m happy to get the MVP of the senior rugby team. The most memorable game was the zones championship. We won it and it was a hard fought battle and … it meant a lot to our whole team and we were all super excited.”
Smith will miss her time at BCHS, which was filled with great friends and teachers. However, being around teammates is what the multi-sport athlete said she’s going to especially miss.
“The award is pretty special, being our last year in high school, I didn’t really expect it, but, you know, it was really nice,” she said. “My most memorable moment was provincials [for rugby]. We didn’t do the best, but just having one last game with the team after thinking our season was over was super special and I got my last try so it was really fun.”
Noah Macfarlane won BCHS’ Allen Tollestrup Memorial Award, which is the school’s most prestigious award that honours excellence in athletics, academics and leadership.
For the CCHS Wolverines, Kai Perron and Indigo Hill won male and female athlete of the year awards.
A multi-sport threat, Perron excelled on the gridiron, rushing in many footballs into the end zone.
“It feels pretty awesome,” said Perron. “It was kind of a goal for me at the start of the year to try and get an award and this one is one of the best ones I could have gotten, so it’s awesome and an honour.”
Staying positive, even through some rough school teams in previous years, Hill helped lead the senior girls’ basketball team to a tournament victory in Banff earlier this year after years of development.
“None of us expected it and it just brought so much pride and we were so proud of ourselves and what we accomplished,” said Hill. “I know winning isn’t everything, but we won because of our team and how much effort we put into it.
“I love our school and I love how after COVID we were able to rebuild all these school sports. Not playing them in Grade 9 and 10 were hard, so just to be able to get back out here I was so happy to be playing and I’m glad it showed my school spirit, and my coaches picked up on my positive attitude and how much I really enjoying being out here.”
Silas Legault won the Wolverine Honour Award and Spencer Postman Memorial Scholarship. The honour award is given to athletes leading by example through work ethic and a positive attitude, and the scholarship is sponsored by Gary and Kay Anderson.
At the CCHS award ceremony, long-time basketball coach Mike Langlois and CCHS’ athletic director Darren Anderson were each honoured for their decades of service in growing and building sport at the high school level. Both are stepping away from their respective roles next season.
Langlois was presented with the CCHS Basketball Builder’s Award.
For the OLS Avalanche, winning the senior athlete of the year awards were Cassie Lang and Raymond Vargas. The junior awards winners were Seth Sands and Xera Fernandez.
– With files from Jungmin Ham.
