MHS Boosters Honor Student Athletes

18 seniors were awarded scholarships by the Marblehead All Sports Boosters Tuesday evening. All of the funding made available in the scholarships was raised by the student athletes during the Annual Boosters Scholarship Drive last fall.

This year, the scholarship committee carefully conducted an objective selection process which uses a grid point system. There were 55 applicants this year for only 16 scholarships at $1,000 each. With the highly competitive pool of applicants, the committee selected 15 student athletes receiving $1k and announced a three-way-tie and awarded $500 to three honorees.

The 20-point objective selection process awards a certain number of points for different criteria met. For example, points are given for the number of seasons played, varsity leadership honors and awards, media honors and GPA (in accordance to the standards set by MHS).

With the Boosters on their way to being "green", they are hoping to eliminate the seasonal booklet which will save thousands.

Boosters President Jami Corbett stated "With the Boosters website going green and additional advertisers, we hope to offer 20 scholarships at $1,000 for 2012 and 2013. That's my goal."

MHS Athletic Director, Mark Tarmey, was also present and handed out awards with Corbett.

"This is an outstanding group of 18 students. Not only are they remarkable athletes and exceptional students, they all possess superlative leadership skills and enviable character traits" Tarmey stated.

He added "We had an impressive pool of 55 scholarship applicants. It was a very competitive process and the committee spent many, many hours reviewing and evaluating each applicants credentials. It is a very methodical, structured process that ensures that recipients are selected on a clearly defined rubric of quantitative data."

Also awarded were two scholarships that were awarded to recipients who exemplified exceptional character traits.

The John Ziergiebel Award was given to the applicant that demonstrated warmth, compassion and a strong moral fiber. This applicant is also a loyal and dedicated "true friend", as Mark Tarmey described him.

The Allie Castner Award was given to the applicant that "emulated Allie's characteristics as a quality young woman. Not the fastest runner or the strongest swimmer,  but people wanted to be around her." This applicant was also voted captain by her peers as she made connections with her friends and team mates.

The overall recipients, their sports played at MHS and their attending college or university:

Hayley Braun - Soccer, Ski Team, Lacrosse- Hobart and William Smith College

Will Herlihy - Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track- Sacred Heart University

Ben Koopman - Football, Hockey, Baseball- College of the Holy Cross

Maika Phillips - Field Hockey, Ski Team, Lacrosse- The University of Vermont

Alex Whitmore - Football, Hockey, Lacrosse- The University of New Hampshire

Courtney Maag - Soccer, Hockey, Lacrosse- Penn State

Chris Neuman - Golf, Indoor and Outdoor Track- Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute

Courtney Maher - Field Hockey, Winter/Spring Track- Santa Clara University

Henry Pratt - Indoor/Outdoor Track, Cross Country- Bowdoin College

Olivia Raisner - Soccer, Basketball, Lacrosse- Bowdoin College

Jake Smith - Cross Country, Indoor/Outdoor Track- The University of South Carolina

Gretchen Rowe - Field Hockey, Indoor/Outdoor Track- Mt Holyoke College

Emma McGuirk - Soccer, Indoor/Outdoor Track- Middlebury College

3-way tie:

Josh Freedland - Football, Basketball, Baseball- Bates College

Jake Kulevich - Football, Hockey, Baseball- Berkshire School

Ryan Stanojev - Football, Basketball, Baseball- Penn State

The John Ziergiebel Award:

Hunter Whitmore - Football, Hockey, Lacrosse- The University of New Hampshire

The Allie Castner Award:

Claire Depew - Cross Country, Swimming, Outdoor Track- Northeastern University