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Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon take home top honors at Almanac banquet

By Eleanor Bailey 5 min read
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Jake Dixon of Bethel Park, Claire Dougherty of Mt. Lebanon and Joe Campion of Bethel Park were the big winners at the 26th annual Almanac Premier Performers Sports Banquet. Dixon and Dougherty were recognized as the top male and female athletes of the year while Campion won the prestigious Waldie/Shaeffer Scholarship Award.

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Eddie Jenkins was a finalist for the male athlete of the year award. The Mt. Lebanon senior will attend the University of Pennsylvania and play on the school’s sprint football team, which is a recognized Division I sport.

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Braedon Wong was one of the finalist for the Waldie/Shaeffer Scholarship Award. The Upper St. Clair senior received an ROTC scholarship and will swim at Cornell University.

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Nick Wolk and Sebastian Yocca from Peters Township pose with the photos of them representing the sports in which they were honored. Wolk is the WPIAL cross country and 3,200-meter champion while Yocca swam and competed in tennis. Wolk was named Almanac MVP for cross country and track while Yocca, who earned an appointment to the Naval Academy, was a finalist for the Waldie/Shaeffer Scholarship Award.

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Mike Carr poses with his parents, Michael and Jacqueline, during festivities at the Almanac Sports Banquet. Carr was a finalist for the male athlete of the year award. The South Fayette senior was a two-time state champion in wrestling.

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Dustin Chickis enters the banquet room during the parade of champions. The Chartiers Valley senior was a finalist for the Waldie/Shaeffer Scholarship Award. He will attend the Virginia Military Institute and work towards a civil engineering degree. His dream is to become a marine.

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Bishop Canevin’s Tom Krivak and Bailey McDonald were honored as MVPs for hockey and girls’ volleyball respectively.

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Seton-La Salle was well represented with three seniors nominated for athletes of the year and one for the Waldie/Shaeffer Scholarship Award. Pictured from left are: Nico Popa, Liam Sweeney, Joseph Farnan and Olivia Caragein.

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Harry Funk / Staff Seton-La Salle’s Olivia Caragein was a finalist for Female Athlete of the Year.

The Almanac celebrated its 26th annual Premier Performers Sports Banquet and crowned its top male and female athletes for the year.

In addition, the 15th winner of the prestigious Waldie/Shaeffer Scholarship Award was announced during the event, which took place May 22 at the Crowne Plaza Suites Pittsburgh South, Bethel Park.

Nearly 200 guests applauded as Jake Dixon from Bethel Park and Claire Dougherty from Mt. Lebanon were named The Almanac’s top athletes for 2016. Also, Joe Campion of Bethel Park took home the Waldie/Shaeffer honor.

An All-American and Player of the Year in volleyball, Dixon beat out a field that included other three-sport athletes such as Mt. Lebanon’s Eddie Jenkins, Seton-La Salle’s Nico Popa and Canon-McMillan’s Jordan Smith, as well as two-sport standouts Joey Kazalas of Keystone Oaks, Andrew Wheeler of Upper St. Clair, Liam Sweeney of Seton-La Salle and Levi Metheny of Bethel Park.

The field of finalists also included two-time state wrestling champion Mike Carr of South Fayette and Mt. Lebanon swimmer Brian Ramsey, who qualified for the Olympic Trials to be held in June in Omaha.

Dixon distinguished himself in part by gaining an invitation to train on the Olympic Circuit this summer. He also earned a scholarship to Lewis University, an NCAA men’s volleyball powerhouse.

USA Volleyball Magazine ranked him among the Top 50 players in the country. Thanks to a 4.2 grade point average, Dixon also was a WPIAL Scholar/Athlete award winner,

Additionally, Dixon excelled in basketball and football.

On the gridiron, he earned all-conference and all-Almanac honors as a tight end, for grabbing 32 passes for 533 yards. He also doubled as a linebacker on defense and was a team captain. In hoops, he captained the Hawks to the district and state playoffs by averaging 16 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots per game.

Dixon plans to pursue a career in information security. He hopes to become an FBI agent.

Meanwhile, Dougherty trumped a field that included two state champions in Emma Hasco of Upper St. Clair and Julia Menosky of Bishop Canevin, two-sport standouts Madison Kerr of Peters Township, Mikayla Fetchet of South Fayette, Olivia Caragein of Seton-La Salle, Laura Pryor of Mt. Lebanon and Cheyenne Trest of Canon-McMillan, as well as Samantha Amos, an All-American who is bound for Duke University to play volleyball, and Kelsey Tischler, who will kick for the Grove City College football team.

Dougherty distinguished herself athletically, academically and socially. She set several school and WPIAL records in track. She won her second straight championship in the 800-meter run during the district finals last week at Baldwin. She competed in the national indoor championships this winter and is a state champion in indoor track. She has been a four-time PIAA qualifier in cross country and helped Mt. Lebanon to Top 3 finishes in the WPIAL the past four years.

In the classroom, Dougherty maintained a 5.0 GPA and earned admittance to Dartmouth College, where she plans to pursue a career in medicine. She recently was inducted into Lebo’s prestigious Cum Laude Society. She served as vice president of her class and belonged to the National Honor Society. She was also president of Best Buddies and involved in Link Leaders, groups that work with special needs children and incoming high school students.

Campion was among the contenders for the Waldie/Shaeffer Scholarship Award, given to an athlete intend on pursuing a career in the military. Eight athletes received a $200 stipend as finalists. In addition to Campion, they were Dustin Chickis of Chartiers Valley; Jared Colbert of Bethel Park; Joseph Farnan of Seton-La Salle; Adam Heil and Braedon Wong of Upper St. Clair; Joseph Towell of Mt. Lebanon; and Sebastian Yocca of Peters Township.

Campion will attend Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, where he will pursue the Army Ranger Challenge Program.

While at Bethel Park, Campion participated in many programs. He played soccer for four years, competed in Ultimat Frisbee and on the chess team. He completed 18 AP honors or accelerated classes and maintained a 4.17 GPA. President of the National Honor Society, he was active in student government and the forensics and German clubs. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout and performs with the school’s prestigious Top 21 musical group.

In addition to the finalists for Athlete of the Year, The Almanac recognized 21 additional athletes for their achievements on and off the playing field. Among the MVPs were: Chris Gladden and Charlotte Madson for tennis; Connor Schmidt and Mia Kness for golf; Nick Wolk and Danielle Hinish for cross country; Brandon Thorsen, Erin Cunningham and Bailey McDonald for volleyball; Nick Sodini for soccer; Eddie Flohr and Emily Anderson for basketball; Nevan Long for rifle; Kevin Liu and Angie Gyurina for swimming; Trevor Mahoney and Maria Capozzi for diving; Brian Ward for lacrosse; Thomas Krivak for hockey; Linda Rush for softball; and Brendan Boettger for crew.

The Rev. Joe DiDonato from the Meadows Race Track Ministry emceed the event. The Friends of Waldie, which donated $1,500 to The Almanac’s Waldie/Shaeffer Scholarship Award, were in attendance: Frank DelPercio, Tom Etzel, Terry Crump and Steve McGinnis. Jane Wrenshall, sister of Ken Waldie, and her husband, Bill, were also among the special guests at the banquet.

Each athlete was presented with signed certificates from state Sen. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Jefferson Hills, and Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Monongahela.

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