Winter may not be over, but winter sports at Boothbay Region High School are. On Wednesday night, March 5, the athletes on the school's five varsity and two junior varsity teams were honored at the BRHS Booster Club's annual banquet.

Porter Memorial Gymnasium was filled with student athletes, parents, grandparents and others as Athletic Director Allan Crocker began the proceedings, following a dinner of salads, sandwiches, pizza, cookies, cake and more.

Crocker said it was impressive to have nearly 50 percent of the school's population participating in winter sports (approximately 100 students out of 220) and that it was nice to see the resurgence of swimming and wrestling teams. Some other team highlights mentioned by Crocker included:

--Swim team: Five swimmers qualified for the state meet

--Wrestling team: Team finished 7th at the state meet and featured one state champion

--Cheerleading team: Missed qualifying for the state championship competition by a mere five points

--Boys and girls Nordic ski teams: Best seasons in the four years of existence; boys finished third in the Mountain Valley Conference (MVC) and sixth at the state championship

--J.V. boys basketball: Finished the season undefeated

--J.V. girls basketball: Finished the season with a 12-3 record

--Varsity girls basketball: Reached the preliminary round of the Class C playoffs

--Varsity boys basketball: MVC runner-up, second-seeded in Class C West

Crocker also presented certificates to players who received post-season awards from the Mountain Valley Conference:

Cheerleading: Kaia Groneng and Hannah Winslow, senior all-stars at the conference championships

Boys and girls swimming: State meet qualifiers: Brenna Alley, Nichole LaBrecque, Austin Crocker, Karl Alamo and Brad Tibbetts

Wrestling: Anthony Maulolo, Class C state champion in 220-pound weight class, fourth at Mid-State League Tournament; Nick Labonte, fourth in the Class C championship in the 106-pound weight class; Brandon Andrews, fourth in the Class C championship in the145-pound weight class; and Howard Carter, second at the Mid-State tournament in the 170-pound weight class

Nordic skiing: Sophia Thayer, all-conference in the freestyle and academic all-star; Robert Campbell, all-conference in classic and freestyle events and academic all-star

Girls basketball: Morgan Crocker, first team all-star and MVC leading scorer; Hannah Morley and Sara Durgan, honorable mention

Boys basketball: John Hepburn, first team all-conference and MVC co-player of the year; Andrew Hallinan, first team all-conference and McDonald's Senior All-Star; Evan Hepburn, second team all-conference; Nick Kilgus, honorable mention

Crocker then introduced coaches to hand out individual plaques for most valuable (MVP), most improved (MIP) and coaches award.

Crocker stood in for swim coach Don Strout who had a prior appointment. The swim plaques went to: Chelsie Graves, MIP; Brenna Alley, coaches; Vincente Haro, MIP, Brad Tibbetts, coaches. No MVP awards were presented.

Crocker, who is also the BRHS wrestling coach, presented the following plaques: Antonio Maulolo, MVP; Killian Miller, MIP; Jude Alamo, coaches.

Cheerleading coach Elizabeth Tilton presented her awards to: Lindsey Buckingham, MIP; Kaia Groneng, coaches; Hanna Winslow, MVP.

Nordic coach Emily Higgins presented plaques to: Boys: Robert Campbell, MVP; Liam Conlin, MIP; Zach Vise, coaches; Girls: Sophia Thayer, MVP; Angela Machon, coaches and MIP.

Girls basketball coach Tanner Grover gave plaques to: Morgan Crocker, MVP; Sara Durgan, coaches; Brooke Alley, MIP.

And boys basketball coach I.J. Pinkham, who received a standing ovation earlier in the evening when Crocker recapped the USA Today online poll where Pinkham finished fourth in the nation as the best high school boys basketball coach, presented his awards to: Abel Bryer, MIP; Joseph DiMauro, coaches; and Andrew Hallinan, MVP.

Guest speaker for the event was Lesley Blethen, a member of the 1984 BRHS state championship girls basketball team (see separate article).