CHS athletic awards presented

Tyler Riley received the Bernie Saggau Award, and Adyson Morrison received the Kim Bishop Award during the athletics portion of the Creston Community High School awards ceremony May 7 in the high school auditorium.

Separate articles in the News Advertiser provided coverage of the CCHS Outstanding Female Athlete and Outstanding Male Athlete award winners, Ava Adamson for the girls honor and Brayden Schoon receiving the boys award.

The Bernie Saggau Award of Merit is named for the retired executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, who devoted much of his life to building high standards of character and leadership in Iowa high school athletics. It honors individuals whose leadership, service, academic and athletic performance reflect the values of the IHSAA, the highest honor presented by the IHSAA Board of Control.

Riley, who was also the school’s only 4X4 award winner for participating in football, basketball, track and field and baseball for four years, received the award that states: “Presented annually to the graduating student who best exemplifies a patriotic spirit, with strong religious and moral convictions, living and professing the qualities of honesty, integrity, and sportsmanship; believing that both games and life should be conducted by the rules.”

Morrison, a member of the school’s volleyball and basketball teams for four years, and softball for two years, received the award in honor of the late Kim Bishop. A standout student at Creston High School, Bishop was also an all-around athlete and University of Iowa gymnast. She was born in 1966 and died in 1994. The award is presented annually to a CCHS female athlete who displays outstanding citizenship and sportsmanship.

Morrison also received the Iowa Girl Award. That award honors graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their high school careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.

The Lisa Brinkmeyer Award also went to Morrison. The award honors graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves in their high school careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. Brinkmeyer was Miss Iowa Basketball at Hubbard-Radcliffe in 1993 and an All-Missouri Valley Conference player at Drake. She served as an assistant director at the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union for many years.

Taryn Fredrickson, Creston’s standout softball pitcher with more than 600 career strikeouts, was Creston’s nominee for the Robert Smiley Scholarship. This award is presented in honor of the longtime Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union executive secretary who died in 2003.

The Robert Smiley Scholarship is for senior girls enrolled full-time in a public or private Iowa high school. The recipient must have a minimum 2.5 GPA (4.0 scale). She must also have lettered in one varsity sport sponsored by the IGHSAU each year of high school. The value of the Robert Smiley Scholarship is $1,000 to be used to pay expenses billed by the Iowa college or university of her choice.

Payton Davis, a standout cross country and track and field runner, was Creston’s nominee for the the E. Wayne Cooley Award. In 1954, Cooley accepted the assignment as Executive Secretary of the IGHSAU, which had only one inter-scholastic activity at the time, basketball. In the following 48 years, under Cooley’s leadership, the organization expanded to nine sports. Cooley passed away in May of 2013. (Finalists are awarded a $1,000 scholarship and the Cooley award winner receives a $15,000 scholarship.)

Curt Olson Athletic Sportsmanship award recipients were Spencer Brown, Parker Varner, Josh Schaefer, Gavin Larson, Karter Clayton, Averi Culbertson and Olivia Burwell. The Steve McDermott Athletic Citizenship awards went to Stephen Sistad, Mattias Schultes, Mia Strunk, Sasha Wurster and Savanna Davis.

Mila Kuhns received the Karen Brown scholarship award from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. The recipient of this award is recognized for excellence in the classroom, in athletics and must plan on a future in a sports-related field. Brown served the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union for 43 years, most recently as the senior associate director.