Mepham's Varsity M Dinner a Rousing Success

The Varsity M Dinner held at Mepham High School Wednesday night honored the school's student-athletes for their achievements not only in athletics, but in academics as well.

Catered by Outback Steakhouse, the event is held so that the coaches of every varsity team can hand out awards to players that have who have worked hard to positively represent their team and school.

The dinner is organized by the co-presidents of the Mepham Sports Booster Association, Audrey Woolfson and Diane Pasquariello.

"This night is about honoring all of the athletes for all their years of hard work and dedication to the sports that they enjoy," Woolfson said. "And also to the great coaches that we have at Mepham High School."

The first award of the night was the Sportsmanship Award, which honored the two students who best represent the values and work ethic that Mepham expects from their students both academically and athletically.

The awards were given to seniors Matthew Dato and Danielle Parker.

"Playing baseball and wrestling at the school gave me a sense of confidence in myself to also do well academically," Dato said. "I'm not just academically focused or athletically focused, but it's a mixture of the two and I always want to do my best in both."

Dato also won awards for his accomplishments in baseball and wrestling, while Parker also won an award for her achievements in cross country.

"Being on track and cross country has definitely changed my life," Parker said. "Some of my best friends are on those teams and it's made me a better person. I was very shocked to win that award, but I'm honored that they picked me and I'm glad I can share it with Matt."

The night continued with the acknowledgement of the more successful teams on the year, one of them being the girls' lacrosse team, who enjoyed an undefeated season led by Lauren Johnson, winner of the MVP award.

"This season was really great for us," Johnson said. "We were 13-0 and it was awesome to go undefeated. All the girls worked really hard and we all came together as a team. Winning MVP is such a great honor, especially since it's my last year."

Another successful team for Mepham was kickline, led by coaches Jacqueline Geller and Kerry Dennis. The team won the Long Island championship this year, which is called The Champion of Champions.

"We had a great season this year while winning the same trophies that we won last year," Dennis said. "Working as the kickline coach at Mepham is truly an honor. The girls are the most responsible, school-spirited individuals and they work so hard. They were such a joy to coach and we're really going to miss our seniors at the end of this year. "

Each sport also handed out a Senior Achievement award, honoring the senior that played the most valuable role for their respective teams.

The winners of these awards were plentiful: Jessica Kaefer (swimming), Adam Larkin (golf), Jenna Cavuto (badminton), Thomas Pisano (baseball), Dylan Carnevale (lacrosse), Jake Kolenberg (tennis), Aman Patel (spring track), Lauren Neuwith (spring track), Jahniece Hall (cheerleading), Jessica Petroglia (kickline), Stephen Luczaj (basketball), Katie Wohlgemuth (basketball), Ricky Hough (bowling), Dan Smith and Evan Pasquariello (hockey), Laura Lemke (winter track), Darshan Patel (badminton), Jonathan Genn (cross country), Kaalen Jackson (football), Dean Carnevale (soccer), Larisa Madison (tennis) and Alex Leung (volleyball).