Award winning moments

On Wednesday, May 20, the yearly student award ceremony was held. This ceremony recognizes many different areas in our school, including fine arts, athletics and academics. There were many students recognized for their roles in different plays and musicals.  Mr. Eitrheim said, “It’s great to see all those kids on-stage being recognized for all the talent and hard-work they put in. I couldn’t be more proud of each and every one of them.”

The ExCEL award winners were also recognized- juniors Emma Smith and Lucas Arndt both won this award. Smith said, “I’m proud that I was recognized for something that I take great pride in myself for doing.” The ExCEL award is based on community service and leadership. Different state participants were acknowledged as well, everything from DECA, to music, to athletics. Coaches and teachers of the year were recognized too.

Another award handed out was the O-Club award, which is for any student who was a three sport athletes their senior year. Athletic director Ryan Swanson said, “I think it shows how much work these kids have to put in during all seasons, it’s no easy accomplishment.” There were 11 in total, showing how hard it is to maintain playing three sports a year. Award winner Matt Kingland said, “It takes a lot of time management and commitment, and being able to push yourself non-stop.”

Three other main awards were given out to conclude the event. The first one was the People’s Press 110% Award, which is given to a male and female senior athlete for giving 110% throughout the year. This award was given to Justin Tacheny and Kathryn Dufrene. Tacheny said, “It’s really awesome for me to get this award because it shows the time and effort I put in, it’s nice for the coaches to recognize that.” The next award was the Jostens Junior Athlete of the Year Award, given to the best female and male junior athlete. Carli Langeland and Alec Holcomb came away with this award. Langeland said, “It’s really cool that I was chosen for this award out of a lot of other great athletes.”

The last award given out was the Oldenburg Senior Athlete of the Year Award. Dexter Leer and Kacy Borwege took home this prodigious award. Leer said, “It’s weird to think that my high school sports career is coming to an end, but it was nice to be recognized for all the time I put in to all three of my sports.” None of these awards are an easy feat for any of these students. The common theme in achieving them is hard work and commitment, which all of these student athletes have. Owatonna has the right to be very proud of all these award winners, year in and year out.