Indians Track & Field Awards Ceremony
Oskaloosa Boys Track & Field Awards Ceremony (photo by Wendy Van Roekel)
by Wendy Van Roekel
The 2018 Oskaloosa Indians Boys Track & Field Banquet and Awards Ceremony was held tonight. Each year the banquet celebrates the season with a meal for the team and their families. Additionally, there are annual awards presented at the event.
The first awards of the night are the Top 10 List awards. This list contains the Top 10 best times and distances on record for Oskaloosa athletes in each event, dating back to 1975. This year 12 student athletes made the Top 10 List in their respective events, with several making the Top 10 in multiple events.
Pictured here: Front – Ike Schultz, Brayden Van Kampen, Nik Dykstra, Dylan Van Leuven, Casey Hill, Jacob Hacker, Talon Munger, Back – Reed Brown, Jaden Van Roekel, Shane Hoven, Seth Howard, Carter Huyser
The following awards are voted on by the team members. Every team member gets one vote for each category. This year’s award winners are:
Outstanding Freshman – Reed Brown
Most Improved – Talon Munger
Outstanding Thrower – Casey Hill
Outstanding Jumper – Austin Czerwinski
MVP – Carter Huyser
There are also two awards chosen by the coaching staff. The Relay Award is awarded to the individual the coaches believe to be crucial to a variety of relay successes that may not be recognized in another way. This year’s recipient is Brayden Van Kampen. The Coaches Award is the award presented to the athlete who deserves great recognition for his overall impact on the team. He can be an athlete coaches feel is MVP-worthy for his efforts. This year’s recipient is Jaden Van Roekel.
Finally, there is one award that is passed each year from the current holder to a new recipient for the upcoming year. This award is the Golden Indian. The award is a leadership honor bestowed upon one Indian athlete that is believed to possess great leadership ability. The expectation is for the new recipient to wear the Golden Indian medallion with pride and to help guide and lead his teammates from now through the end of the following track season. Jaden Van Roekel was the 2017-18 Golden Indian and tonight he passed the honor to Casey Hill.
Oskaloosa is sending 9 athletes to the 2018 State Track & Field Meet in 5 events. The Indians’ Qualifying Events: Shuttle Hurdle Relay (Jaden Van Roekel, Nik Dykstra, Reed Brown and Dylan Van Leuven), Discus (Casey Hill), 110M High Hurdles (Jaden Van Roekel), 4x400M Relay (Carter Huyser, Talon Munger, Shane Hoven, Brayden Van Kampen) and 800M (Carter Huyser and Talon Munger). These athletes will participate at Drake Stadium May 17-19.
