You know, I took a picture of Myers with her poster, but this is a lot better. This is a copy of the actual poster created by our marketing department that Corinne won. Then I got to meet her parents. Always a fun time.
Friday night was the Bergen County Women Coaches Association All-County dinner, and it was honor to be on hand to present the award to the Athlete of the Season. That award recognizes (to us) the one student-athlete who defined the winter season with his or her actions. It always helps to have had individual and team success, throw in maybe some history-making stuff, and an awesome moment or two, and needless to say, you got a shot.
Myers, a senior at Westwood, certainly hit all the marks….individual and team success, All-American, and history winning 4 golds at a sectional track meet. That had never been done before.
Still, as always it was not an easy choice, although Corinne was kind of the leader in the clubhouse. We had a list of 10 nominees chosen from the All-County lists and also from my own observations and a few conversations with members of the HS sports staff.
Who was next in line? Well, gee, thats a tough question. Probably Lindsey Rogers from IHA, especially with the Blue Eagles reaching the TOC…and if they had won Wednesday night, I’m not quite sure what we would have done. But also, it was hard not to acknowledge what Madison Dunbar did this year for Highlands in basketball…coconut water and all. And Cheyenne Bellerand of Emerson would not have been a bad choice. Cheyenne had the biggest smile of any athlete who came up to the dais.
We had history too as the BCWCA recognized an All-County girls fencing team for the first time. Just three girls, and Holy Angels AD Patti Gorsuch gave a nice speech about fencing in Bergen County and how special it was for them to be there.
I wonder some times, no, a lot of times, if the parents of the basketball players, or the actual basketball players in the room, are paying attention to what is being said about the athletes in other sports, because it’s pretty remarkable. This year, the program got shuffled a little bit, and BCWCA President Melissa Landeck was not able to be there, so Diane Furusawa was the Master of Ceremonies. We started around 7:10, which is pretty common. It was a long evening, but enjoyable. Dan Rattacasa of Westwood called me out. I actually had in my notes to say something back to him when Corinne won the award – like, ‘Ok, since Rattacasa wanted more publicity, I will give the award to a Westwood kid.’ But that wasnt true.
I actually walked in with Horohonich from IC and ended up at his table. We were talking about the Morris Catholic game and softball stuff. It was just H and the Fuehring family, so we all got extra food – seriously, there were 5 of us at the table of 10. I was perfectly well-hidden in the corner, texting various athletic directors and coaches throughout the night, and tweeting just a bit. It was a good time. The rumors are true though, I did not eat my ice cream. I have been on a diet for a couple of weeks and already seeing some progress, so I want to keep it going.
But my half-full table was the anomaly. The place was as full as ever, although the boys dinner tonight is the biggest All-County gathering of the year, since the boys honor 6 sports.
They did track last, Mr. Zaccone gutted through his speech with pink eye, and he was smart, they saved Corinne until last (well, 2nd to last, as Catherine Rozalski was honored last, but she came late) and I was almost like, ‘great, they are going to ruin my big moment,’ but it was nice. Corinne came up and I told her that now she and Westwood junior Nolan Borgersen each have an award like this (I think they know each other). She got a standing ovation, which was fantastic.
And then afterwards I took her picture and we talked some more about running. It was 10:20 before I got to my car.
And that’s probably a little late, but I don’t think many people mind. I know some people leave early, which bugs me because I have the award at the end, but I understand. I like what the BCCA has done with their dinners starting at 6, because they don’t really start at 6, but you can start at 6:15, 6:20, and then 2/3 hours later its all done.
And that is what we will get tonight, again back at The Fiesta, again I will probably get the salmon, again I get to present an award at the end – this time it’s the Ron Fox Award – and it should be fun.