The Portage High School fall athletes gathered in the East Auditorium on Monday night along with their coaches and parents in order to recognize the accomplishments that they achieved this fall. After each season of athletics at Portage High School, an awards banquet is hosted by the Athletic Department to review the season.
All eight sports that competed during the fall season took part in the banquet, including the junior varsity and freshmen squads. Athletic Director Jeff Smith delivered the opening remarks. He is thrilled with the hard work and dedication that was displayed by the parents, coaches and athletes during the fall season.
“We have a great staff here with administration, coaches and kids. The number of people that are all buying into the future of athletics here is second to none,” he said.
Head Principal Caren Swickard was also in attendance. As a former gymnastics coach, she is a big supporter of the school’s athletic program.
“We are very excited about the future of our program with our many talented younger athletes. They are all role models and ambassadors for Portage High School,” Swickard said.
Each of the varsity head coaches received the chance to come to the podium to summarize and highlight their team’s season. They also handed out several awards, including Most Valuable Players, three-year letter winners and four-year letter winners.
Head football coach Jeromy Flowers was the first to present. He described how his players were able to grow on and off the field this season. Junior Rashaan Coleman, who stepped in as the starting quarterback when another player went down with an injury, was named the MVP.
Flowers recalled his team’s upset victory over Merrillville in Week 4 as one of the best moments of the season. He was accepting of the Indians final record of 4-6 considering he youth of the team and the difficulty of its schedule.
Boys cross country coach Tom Erickson delivered his thoughts on the season. He was satisfied with the performance of the boys, even though they came up just shy of reaching the state meet. Sophomore Dustin Balboa earned the title of team MVP. The Tribe finished with the final record of 97-60.
Next the microphone was turned over to head girls coach Jay White. White took back over as head coach this season after serving as the assistant for the last several years. He led the lady-Indians to a second place finish in both sectionals and regionals. They qualified for the state meet by coming in fourth in semistate. Megan Cassidy, who was named MVP, led a strong group of girls that also included Terra Norman, Katie Engle, Abby Trader and Paige Pizer. The girls finished with a dominating mark of 113-38.
The boys tennis team managed to pull off a winning season despite playing in a tough Duneland Athletic Conference. The Indians posted a record of 12-6. Gary Hayes recognized his senior duo of Shub Multani and Zack Lundy and spoke optimistically about all of the sophomores and juniors that played on the varsity team. Junior Jeff McElfresh was named the MVP.
First year head coach Bryan Tyman said that he could not have been welcomed in by a better group of girls. He described the bond that he developed with the team over the course of the season. Portage sent one golfer, MVP Mackenzie Barcelli, to regionals this year. The Indians went 8-5 overall.
The boys soccer team fought its way through a difficult year in which the players were forced to play under tough circumstances. The Indians battled their way to a 6-10-1 year, including an upset victory over Chesterton in a penalty kick shootout. Head coach Todd Strom allowed his players to vote on MVP honors, but he said that there was no doubt that senior Donovan Cole was deserving of the award.
The girls soccer team named junior Nicki Monahan its Most Valuable Player. Head coach Amanda Isakson said that although their record was not where they wanted it to be (4-14), the Indians jelled well as a group. They were able to stay together as a team despite having a losing record.
Volleyball coach Brian Zofkie included the student section of super fans in his list of people that deserve thanks. He said that this year’s team received more fan support than any one that he has coached in his career. Zofkie credited the players, assistant coaches and administrators for helping him transition to his first year in Portage. Haley Snyder was named the volleyball MVP.
The fall sports were able to take a big chunk out of the 300 win goal that the Indians are shooting for by the end of the year. Now it is up to the winter and spring sports to sustain that high level of success and achievement.