Thursday, June 24, 2010

Boys Athlete of the Year Finalists

Since the 1999-2000 school year (my first at the Observer-Reporter), the sports staff has selected a boys and girls athlete of the year. The athlete is chosen from a list of finalists and, for this post, we're going to look at the finalists for the boys.

First, let's glance back at previous O-R boys athletes of the year.
1999-2000 – Michael Sutton, Washington
2000-01 – Lanfer Simpson, Waynesburg
2001-02 – Dan Mozes, Washington
2002-03 – Colby Giles, Carmichaels
2003-04 – Coleman Scott, Waynesburg
2004-05 – Jeff Weiss, McGuffey
2005-06 – Robert Heller, Ringgold
2006-07 – Andrew Sweat, Trinity
2007-08 – Dan Conley, Burgettstown
2009-09 – Nick Wilcox, Peters Township
2009-10 – ?????????

On to this year's finalists (in alphabetical order).
* Christian Brumbaugh, South Fayette
Brumbaugh passed for 2,183 yards and a WPIAL-best 29 touchdowns. He was the O-R Player of the Year and the Century Conference MVP. Brumbaugh was also a key contributor of South Fayette's state championship basketball team.

* J.T. Deschamps, McGuffey
Deschamps was an all-section defender in soccer but made more headlines during the spring track season. He won PIAA and WPIAL Class AA gold medals in the 300 intermediate hurdles and established a WPIAL record in the event.

* Austin Hancock, Peters Township
Hancock passed for 1,298 yards and 14 touchdowns as he earned a spot on the O-R Elite 11 and helped PT to its first winning record since 2003. He was invited to the U.S. Army Junior Skills Challenge. In baseball, Hancock batted .451 with 23 RBI.

* Joe Havrilak, Trinity
Havrilak was an all-conference selection as a receiver and defensive back for the Hillers, but his best sport is baseball. Despite teams doing their best to avoid Havrilak, he batted .510 with 16 extra-base hits, including five home runs (four at Consol Energy Park), and a knack for clutch plays.

* Mike Hull, Canon-McMillan
The Big Macs' Mr. Everything, Hull was a four-year starter in football and finished with 100-plus tackles each season. He started at middle linebacker in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and was the MVP for the U.S. vs. The World game. Hull also helped C-M to WPIAL team titles in wrestling and track.

* Bryan Thomas, Washington
Whether as a defensive end or a run-blocking tight end, Thomas was a destructive force for the Prexies, plus he produced the big play with frequency. An Elite 11 pick, Thomas recently played in the PFCA East-West Game. A first-year starter in basketball, Thomas nearly everaged a double-double and he also participated in track.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

what about gibson from canon mac. he pretty much carried the cm team through the playoffs winning every race to help the team win. then won the WPIAL 1600m helped the 4x8 to a 4th place finish and the 4x4 to a 7th place finish, finish 6th in the 800. At states finished 10th in the fastest overall field in the history of AAA. at the end of the season still had the 5th best time in the State.

mike_kovak said...

Gibson had a great senior season and was certainly the workhorse behind the team track title.

For a running specialist, winning or medaling at states goes a long way in becoming a finalist.

Previous AOY winner Jeff Weiss won gold in cross country and track. Deschamps won PIAA gold this year.

B.T. said...

Mike I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate for being named in this award also I appreciate for all the ink in the paper you put of me in the previous years. There will be more to come while ill be attending Bowling Green State University for my four years.

mike_kovak said...

If you work as hard at Bowling Green as you did at the High, I'm sure things will work out well for you.

Best of luck!