This Monday student athletes from every RBHS sport and their families packed the Columbia College Southwell Gymnasium to celebrate the third annual Bruin Cup. Bruin Cup is a video driven, student run athletic banquet intended to honor the accomplishments of Rock Bridge Athletics.
Athletic director David Egan opened the event speaking on the importance of athletics and the values taught through participation in high school sports such as teamwork, commitment and hard work.
“It’s almost offensive to call high school athletics extracurricular considering the high level of commitment required,” Egan said.
Egan went on to offer special thanks to head athletic trainer Greg Nagel, Vicki Reimler, principal Jen Mast and assistant principal Brian Gaub.
Next a coach recognition video thanked coaches for their hard work and commitment to developing RBHS student athletes.
The first award presented for the night went to the Bruin Girls for academic excellence as they claimed the highest overall team grade point average. The award was tightly contested as nine RBHS teams boast GPAs of 3.5 or higher and the average GPA for RBHS athletes is 3.22.
Next teams that logged community service hours were recognized for their contributions to the community. Baseball, softball, boy’s and girl’s golf, girl’s swimming, boy’s tennis, and girl’s and boys’ basket
ball all were honored for their community service.
The first athletic award was for team performance of the year, given to the team with the best performance when it mattered most. Finalists for the award for boy’s included wrestling, football and cross country, with wrestling’s district and state performance winning.
“It was awesome since it was the best wrestling team (in school history) and people from school recognized that and awarded us for everyones hard work.” sophomore wrestler Josiah Kline said.
Finalists on the girl’s side included basketball, tennis and track and field, with tennis’s performance in a four hour duel victory over Saint Joseph’s Academy in the state semifinals winning.
The next award presented was senior scholar athlete which took into account an athlete’s gpa through the fall semester. Finalists on the boy’s side included David Mellit, cross country, Zach Reuter, football, and Charlie Gan, cross country with Mellit winning. On the girls side finalists included Sophi Farid, tennis, Bretta Phillips, soccer, Jenny Yao, tennis, and Joanna Zhang, cross country. Farid, Phillips, Yao and Zhang all hold 4.0 GPAs and were all awarded the senior scholar athlete award.
The next award presented was outstanding sportsmanship, presented to an athlete who displays incredible class and composure to teammates, opponents, fans and officals. Finalists for girls included Bailey Lawson, volleyball, Catherine Howser, golf, and Mubinah Khaleel basketball with Khaleel winning. On the boy’s side finalists for sportsmanship included Arris Pardalos, basketball, Brayden Parker, football, and Will Rumpf, cross country, with Rumpf taking home the award.
Next the exceptional leadership was presented to an athlete who drives their team. Female finalists included, Laurie Frew, soccer, Molly Mehle, Bruin Girls, and Madison Wipfler, softball and track and field, with Frew winning. On the boy’s side, Jackson Dubinski, golf and basketball, Hunter Blume, baseball and Jacob Kovarik, soccer were all finalists, with Dubinski taking home the award.
The next award presented was rookie of the year, presented to the athlete who in their first year on the team makes a significant impact. Finalists for boys included, Josiah Kline, wrestling, Brian Baker, tennis, and Caleb Rhodenbaugh, swimming, with Kline winning.
“It felt good at the time since I got rewarded for all the hard work I did throughout the year.” Kline said.
On the girl’s side finalists included Rebecca Rubinstein, cross country, Mallory Reasoner, cheer, and Julia Bower, soccer, with Rubinstein winning.
The second to last award presented was for most inspirational, given to the athlete who most inspired teammates, coaches and fans through overcoming long odds and difficulties. Cody Maly, wrestling and Bri Porter, basketball won for boy’s and girl’s respectively.
The last award of the evening was most valuable player, given to the athlete who had the largest athletic contribution to their respective team. Nine finalists were selected for MVP with three winners selected. Winners on the girl’s side included, Sophie Cunningham, basketball, Sam Farmer, golf and cross country, and Kelley Tackett, swimming. Male MVP winners included Sam Crane, wrestling, Salim Gumati, soccer, and Evan Schulte, cross country.
Bruin Cup is an annual event put on by the Bruin Cup parent committee and the Bruin Cup Student Board. The next all school athletic banquet is the for the Love of the Game auction Nov. 8, 2014 to raise money for Rock Bridge Capital Campaign.
