LAKE HUNTINGTON – The Sullivan West Bulldogs held their 2023-24 spring athletic awards banquet on Wednesday, June 12 in the high school auditorium in Lake Huntington. In addition to each of the coaches from every spring sport handing out two awards apiece, Sullivan West also honored their seniors. 

Retiring High School Principal Scott Haberli welcomed all the athletes and their families to the banquet before calling up Athletic Director Kurt Buddenhagen for the introduction of the program. 

“I’d like to thank all the family members, parents, grandparents and siblings for joining us this evening,” Haberli said. “Without your support, it just couldn’t happen. I also want to be the first to congratulate all of our student athletes. As always, this group represents us extremely well on our fields and courts and at our away contests; we’re very proud.”

Seniors Ariel Roycroft, Alexa Rogers and Henry Simon came up to the stage to sing the National Anthem before the presentation of the awards began. 

“We have much to celebrate this evening,” Buddenhagen said. “Our spring sports teams compete with class and sportsmanship. They were highly competitive throughout the Tri-County and beyond. I know that I share a sense of Bulldog pride when I reflect on this past spring season.”

Varsity Boys Track & Field Coach Sean Reuss and Assistant Boys Varsity Track & Field Coach Justin Diehl presented their Most Improved Award to Esteban Ramos and their Track MVP to Peter March. For Varsity Girls Track & Field, Coach Joe Ebeling and Assistant Coach Jenna Kratz presented Jasmine Green with the Coaches Award and Gracyn Halloran with the Team MVP.

Junior Varsity Softball Coach Nicole Olsen and Assistant JV Softball Coach Shane Cruz recognized the JV Softball team. Moving onto Varsity softball, Coach Anthony Durkin and Assistant Coaches Samantha Cummings, Kurt Scheibe and Michael Ellmauer helped to recognize the Varsity team. They awarded Kearstin Knapp as the Most Valuable Offensive Player and Elizabeth Reeves as the Most Valuable Defensive Player. 

The Reeves twins, Elizabeth and Nicole, won five awards total on the evening. Later on in the program, Nicole Reeves was presented the female Milt Gaebel Award and the David F. Curreri Memorial Scholarship Award. Elizabeth Reeves also won the female Most Outstanding Senior Athlete Award and the Billy Moran Scholarship Award. 

Onto the baseball diamond, Coach Alex Broz and Assistant Coach Erik Kratz recognized the Junior Varsity Baseball team. For the Varsity Baseball team, Coach Ty Ebert and Assistant Coach Jeremy Ernst handed out two MVP awards - one to Jacob Hubert and the other to Evan Ebert. 

Out to the putting greens, Varsity Boys Golf Coach John Meyer and Assistant Coach Craig Smith gave out an MVP Award to John Adams and a Coaches Award to Rally Cruz. Out of the three player team of Maggie Powell, Ryann McElroy and Abigail Parucki, Parucki earned the Miss Golfer Award and Powell the Coaches Award from Varsity Girls Golf Coach Pat Donovan. 

Next up, Buddenhagen called up all the senior athletes to the stage as they received a grateful applause, and awarded 45 seniors with their 2024 Senior Athlete plaques. 

Three sport plaque recipients were Karlee Diehl (soccer, basketball, softball), Rahmat Gambari (soccer, indoor track, outdoor track), Abby Parucki (soccer, basketball, golf), Elizabeth Reeves (soccer, basketball, softball), Nicole Reeves (soccer, basketball, softball), Keely Schock (soccer, indoor track, outdoor track), Violla Shami (soccer, basketball, outdoor track), Caden Allen (football, alpine skiing, baseball), Rally Cruz (football, wrestling, golf), Jacob Hubert (football, basketball, baseball), Peter March (cross country, indoor track, outdoor track), Austin Nystrom (soccer, basketball, baseball), Landon Volpe (cross country, indoor track, outdoor) and Allyn Walter (football, basketball, baseball). 

Next up came the special senior awards. 

The Most Valuable Teammate Awards went to Violla Shami and Jakob Halloran. The Coaches Awards were presented to Karlee Diehl and Austin Nystrom. The male Milt Gaebel Award went to Peter March with the female award going to Nicole Reeves. The Sullivan West Select Senior Athlete Awards were given to Abby Parucki and Jacob Hubert. 

The other Most Oustanding Senior Athlete Award went to Rally Cruz. The awards ceremony concluded with the naming of the David F. Curreri Memorial Scholarship Award to Nicole Reeves, presented by Dawn Curreri in the memory of her son who tragicvally lost his life at the age of 26. 

The Billy Moran Scholarship Award was presented by Megan Eggleton, who was Billy’s youngest sister. The Delaware Valley Central School athlete lost his life in 1981 as a drunk driving victim. This was the 42nd year of the scholarship being awared, as Elizabeth Reeves earned that recognition. 

Buddenhagen concluded the evening with some closing remarks before the athletes and their families dispersed.