Editor’s note: Paul Shepard, the author of this story, is a contributor to The Glenwood Herald.

The 2025-2026 Centerpoint Athletic Awards Assembly was held Tuesday (May 19) in the Centerpoint Knights’ gym. Coaches each sport spoke about players and presented the following awards.

In Cross Country, All-District honors were presented to Lilie Hernandez and Mia Reyes for the girls’ team and to Ronnie Ramirez and Jareth Medina for the boys. Additionally, Medina collected All-State honors. The awards were presented to the student athletes by Coach Ward Menzies.

In Track, coach John Harless presented Alyssa Spurlin with All-District and Female Athlete of the Year awards. He then presented Cory Passmore with All-District and Male Athlete of the Year awards. Ben Oosterhouse was honored with the Going the Distance award.

Golf awards were presented by coach Kevin Owens to Berkeley Dixon, All-District and Female Golfer of the Year; and to Jace Rice, who received All-District and Male Golfer of the Year honors.

Next up with presentations was Girls Soccer with coaches Ward Menzies and Jesus Vazquez presenting. Caryann Lemay was given the Knight’s Honor award. Hailey Medina got All- Conference and Most Improved awards. Alexa Derrick was recognized for the All-Conference designation, as was Maria Santillan. Lilie Hernandez, Eunice Monsivais and Mia Reyes received All-State recognition. Additionally, Hernandez and Reyes were nominated for All-Star status which is limited to seniors. In the past an All-Star (statewide) game was played, but not currently. Coach Ward presented Marlene Valdez with All-Conference and Defensive MVP awards. Then, Coach Vazquez gave the Golden Boot, or Offensive MVP award, to Eunice Monsivais.

Boys Soccer with coach Jacob Roberson presenting was next. He extended All- Conference recognition to Blas Velasquez, Gama Velazquez, Tony Valdez, Jeremiah Ponce, Ronnie Ramirez and Jesse Hernandez. Blas Velasquez additionally was awarded the Best Defensive Player award. He then recognized All-State designees Leo Vander, Jareth Medina, and Ely Welch. Vander also got the Golden Boot, or Offensive Player of the Year award. Welch also picked up the Newcomer of the Year award, while Medina was designated as the team’s MVP. Finally, Hayden Robinson was given the Knight’s Honor award, which recognized Robinson’s dedication and hard work for the betterment of the team.

Coach Russell Watts presented the Softball awards. He recognized KK Davis as the Newcomer of the Year. The Golden Spikes award was presented to Cali Pipkins. She was also given the Most Improved Player award. Next, Coach Watts presented Tinley Rice with All-District honors and the Good Eye award. Preslee Richardson received awards for All-District, Silver Slugger and Most RBIs.

Baseball was recognized as Coach Parker Robertson started off by giving Zaiden Allen the Teammate of the Year award. Next, Ben Gillaspy was given the Most Improved Player award. Kade Arnold was recognized for All-Conference honors, as well as being designated as the Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year. All-Conference designation was noted for Gavon Weaver. He was also the Offensive Player of the Year. Finally, coach Robertson presented Hayden Goines with All-Conference honors, and Pitcher of the Year and Defensive Player of the year designation. He was also awarded team MVP honors.

Yoana Cruz presented three awards to members of the Cheer squad. Ellery Rather was given the Pin it Forward award. Shi Anna Rinkle got the Role of a Cheerleader award. Finally, Ms. Cruz presented Hayden Benedict with All-American and Attitude is Everything awards.

Girls Basketball Coach Jonathan Buffalo presented All-District designation to Kamilah Gonzales. Tinely Rice was also presented with an All-District award. Additionally, she was recognized for the Most Rebounds and All-State designation. Another All-District award was presented to Cali Pipkins along with recognition for Most 3-point Field Goals, Assist Award and the Most Steals. She also was recognized for All-State status. Coach Buffalo extended co-Defensive Player of the Year awards to Chloe Arnold and Haley Dunn. Arnold also snagged the Armor Up award, while Dunn was awarded the team’s MVP status.

Boys Basketball, with coach Kevin Owens presenting, came next. Gabe Forga got an All-District award. Ben Oosterhouse also got All-District, along with Best Offensive Player and All-State designations. Jace Rice got the Exemplary Knight award, and Sawyer Galloway got the Most Improved Player.

The last sport of the evening was the Football program with Coach Cary Rogers. He gave All-District and Most Improved Player awards to Tony Valdez. All-District recognition along with Outstanding Defensive Lineman was given to Leo Hamilton. Another All-District player was Ely Welch. He also got the Outstanding Defensive Back award. Dustin Cox was yet another All-District player; additionally, he was recognized as an All-State player and won the Outstanding Offensive Back and Armor-Up awards. Finally, Coach Rogers recognized Chris Borgeson as All-District player and extended to him the Heart of a Knight award.

Then, “Letter Jackets” were presented to those athletes who have played for two years in their given sport. It was noted that the funds to purchase the jackets were provided by the Centerpoint Athletic Booster group which raises money for this project with the help of parents and others volunteering to sell concessions at home basketball games. At the end of the ceremony, a slideshow was shared that featured the various sports from this past year.