The Little Kanawha Athletic Conference All Sports Banquet was held on May 21 for the 2016-2017 school year at the Days Hotel and Conference Center in Flatwoods. Seven athletes from Clay County High School were awarded top honors at the event.
On the wrestling mats it was Joel Cruickshanks and Ryan Stewart who were awarded first team All Conference for their outstanding year on the mats. Both Cruickshanks and Stewart made it to the state tournament and did well. They are well deserving of the award.
Trevor Armes was awarded first team All Conference in both cross country and track. Trevor is also well deserving of the recognition; he put CCHS on the map in running all season in both track and cross country. He is also the latest athlete to win the biggest award in sports by becoming back to back state champion in track and field. He will go down in the history books of track as one of the fastest runners in state history.
Lexi Woodyard was a recipient of the first team All Conference award. If you followed volleyball, you would understand why she was first team. When she killed a ball she put fear into the players on the other side of the net. She was a team player and was excellent at individual saves. She will be missed.
Sarah Boggs made first team in basketball, volleyball, and softball. Boggs was one of the best at CCHS as an all-around athlete; no matter what the sport was, she excelled at it and took whatever team she was on and made it great.
Finally, Ian Smith and Reece Nichols were both first team All Conference in football. If they weren’t named then something was amiss. In his years on the grid, Smith was a bone-crushing lineman; he stacked more runners on their head and sacked more quarterbacks than I could count. When the game was at critical mass, Smith was there to make sure the chips fell towards the Panthers.
Nichols was one of those running backs that could find a hole in a defensive line that you couldn’t thread a needle into and make something happen. He gained yards by hurting anybody who tried to tackle him. He was there when the Panthers needed him and was a force to reckon with.
Congratulations to all these athletes – you will be missed at CCHS, but the halls will remember the footprints you left.
Once again, congratulations.
