Novak, Kerr Earn Top Scholar-Athlete Awards
The Richmond Region’s finest high school scholar-athletes were rewarded for their hard work last night at the 24th annual Times-Dispatch/Sports Backers Scholar-Athlete Awards Dinner at The Jefferson Hotel.
Top honors and $7,500 scholarships went to Matthew Novak of Deep Run High School and MacKenzie Kerr of Douglas Freeman High School. The $5,000 runner’s up scholarships went to Fleet Wallace of St. Christopher’s and Eliza Bellamy of Maggie Walker. The remaining 16 scholar-athletes won scholarships of $2,500 each. They were:
Girls Boys
| Abby Bellows | Hermitage | Nigel Chavis | Armstrong | |
| Campbell Brewer | Collegiate | Nic Enright | Steward | |
| Sarah Goodrich | Godwin | Collin Hahn | Midlothian | |
| Taylor Holt | Powhatan | Logan Harvey | Douglas Freeman | |
| Kayla Huffman | King William | Eric Kim | Maggie Walker | |
| Michelle Knizner | Hanover | Ryan Pearson | Henrico | |
| Madison Nardi | Henrico | Benjamin Taminger | Manchester | |
| Cecelia Negron | Cosby | Strib Walker | Collegiate |
HCA Virginia Sports Medicine also presented its male and female Comeback Athletes of the Year at the dinner. The awards recognize high school athletes who have overcome major injuries or illnesses during their careers and returned to playing their sports. The male winner was Bender Vaught, a football player from Patrick Henry, and the female winner was Olivia Tuck, a basketball player and track and field athlete at Lee-Davis. They each received a $1,000 scholarship and a $500 donation to their respective high school.
New in 2015 was the Sports Backers Sportsmanship Award, which recognizes a student-athlete that demonstrated an act of honesty and integrity that went beyond the norm or committed an act of selflessness or kindness that lifted up a teammate, coach, or opponent. This year’s winner was Michiah Watts from Armstrong High School. She will receive a $1,000 scholarship upon graduation and will be eligible to win one of the St. Louis Sports Commission’s Stan Musial Awards on December 5th in St. Louis.
Williams Mullen will also be awarding a $1,000 scholarship to the male and female Teams of the Year as well as a $500 scholarship to the runner-up teams. These winners will be announced at the conclusion of the spring sports season.
This was the 24th year of the program, which has now awarded a total of $856,000 to 456 outstanding student-athletes from the Richmond area.
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