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Creston's Oustanding Athletes of the Year for 2009 including Nicole Hunter, Morgan Evans and Aubrey Pendegraft made history following the awards banquet May 7. They became the first trio of female athletes since the award was first presented to Jan Lesan in 1972.
"It was tied after voting and the coaches decided to give it to all three. It would have being very difficult to pick just one," Creston athletic director Jeff Bevins said.
No doubt, they're all deserving.
Evans is the second in her family to receive the award with her father Mark Evans, now an assistant coach for both track teams, garnering the achievement in 1979-80. During her senior year, she was a team captain in three different sports will be awarded five letters in her senior season at the conclusion of softball season. The sports include volleyball, basketball, soccer, track and softball.
"With Morgan, what makes her so deserving of this award is -- she has done so many sports and excelled in all of them," Creston girls basketball coach Todd Jacobson said. "When she participates in a sports, she gives it all. She's competitive, and she comes from a competitive family. Whether she's playing a board game, to a computer game to a basketball game, she's going to want to win."
In her senior season, Evans broke her hand and was limited to 15 games. But in those games, she averaged 6.4 points per game, shooting 55 percent from the field and tallied 33 assists. Evans signed earlier this spring to play basketball for Buck Scheel at Southwestern Community College.
Evans, always passionate about soccer, will leave Creston with the school record in assists in a single game and assists in a season. And likely will be part of the team with the most wins in school history. In her junior season, she was named second team all-Hawkeye 10. And if any sports shows Evans' versatility, it's soccer. Evans played all 11 positions, including goalie when Kara Anderson was ailing with injury.
"Morgan is one of those kids that makes everyone better," Creston soccer coach Shawn Miller said. "I think the best word to describe Morgan is fiesty. She could have specialized, but she didn't. That's what makes her deserving. She excelled in every single sport she played."
As well as co-award winner Aubrey Pendegraft, Evans played in five sports including three of which she letters all four years.
"For the most part, playing five sports isn't so tough," Evans said. "There isn't much time for a job but if you use your time wisely during the day, it's not that difficult. It only got difficult when the two sports overlapped. This award means a great deal to me. It means all my hard work was noticed. At the same time, it was surprising though."
Evans will continue her education at Sothwestern Community College, playing both basketball for Scheel and softball for coach Lindsay Stumpff.
Hunter
Creston's Nicole Hunter, unlike the other two recipients, did decide to specialize. And if one has ever watched the senior in the 100 hurdles, you can't disagree with the decision. Hunter placed second in the 100 hurdles at the Class 3A state championships last year. And in her four years, she has been to state on three occasions. And barring injury, Hunter is embarking on her fourth trip. Currently, she's ranked No. 1 in the state in the 100 hurdles, blazing to a time of 15.02 in the H-10 meet Monday.
"She can do any sport," Creston track coach Mike Gerleman said. "It just happens that she specialized in track and volleyball. She's a hurdle specialist. She good because she goes out and competes. And I look for even better things from her in the next couple weeks."
Her sophomore year, Hunter made the decision to specialize, dropping softball in the summer so she could be involved in summer workouts and most importantly, local, state and national volleyball camps. Those camps were an attempt to get recognized, Hunter said.
And it worked.
In volleyball, Hunter was dominant, playing varsity all four years. In those four years, she was named to the all-Western Iowa team, and twice to the all-Hawkeye 10 team. Hunter, who will join Evans, already committed to Rita Shroeder and Southwestern Community College.
"Both Aubrey and Nicole have put in a lot of work and extra time into athletics," Evans said. "They both have played upper level competition. And that's important to do at a young age. That's something Nicole did early. She got as much competition as she could. That's why she is such an outstanding athlete."
While playing vollebyall, Hunter plans to gain her associates of arts at SWCC, and could finish in as little as one year.
"A lot of people don't understand why I'm not running track next year," Hunter said. "I am tired of running track, I have done it since I was little. I like the team aspect of volleyball. It's a game I enjoy playing and if I want to go on after SWCC, Rita can make that happen."
Pendegraft
Five.
That's the number of letters from Creston coach Mike McCabe, that Aubrey Pendegraft will earn once the 2009 softball season finalizes this summer. Pendegraft has been the face of the Panthers, especially the last two years. Last year, Pendegraft batted .330 with 27 RBI's as part of the left side of the infield and was named to the all-Hawkeye 10 team, all-district team and was an honorable mention all-state selection.
"Anytime you have a kid that loves the sport, it's a going to be a good experience for the player and for the coach," Creston softball coach Mike McCabe said. "She ran the whole gammet for us. She had to fit in when she was an eighth grader. She continued to develop and the last couple years we have looked at her for leadership. One of the big criteria for outstanding athlete is number of sports. And she has letter in a lot. That's becoming a dying thing but she proved it can be done."
Five is also the number of sports Pendegraft participated in, including softball, cross country for four years, basketball for four years, bowling for three and her current sport track and field. As of now, Pendegraft, who was a state qualifier last year in the discus, is looking to return to the Class 3A state track championships with the first step coming Friday.
"Pendegraft, she's a real pleasure to be around," Gerleman said. "She does a lot practicing on her own because I can't be two places at once. Not many high school athletes can go out on their own and stay focused on the task. She does, and does it at a high level."
Pendegraft has already inked with Lake Forest University, a four-year liberal arts school in northern Chicago, Ill. where she will play softball for coach Joe Kinsella recently named Midwest Conference Coach of the Year. Pendegraft plans to major in business or economics.
PAST FEMALE WINNERS
1972-73 — Jan Lesan
1973-74 — Ellen Pendegraft
1974-75 — Carol Reed, Sue Tindle
1975-76 — Roxann Sammons
1976-77 — Rhonda Piel
1977-78 — Dorothy Loos
1978-79 — Carol McFee, Kerri Martin
1979-80 — Debbie Oxenrider
1980-81 — Janelle Johnson, Kelly Reed
1981-82 — Marty Lang
1982-83 — Melanie Blubaugh, Lynn Spurgeon
1983-84 — Donna Dickinson
1984-85 — Tawnya Antisdel
1985-86 — Lisa Becker, Lori Quam
1986-87 — Shannon Freeman
1987-88 — Deanne Eilers
1988-89 — Barb Bradley, Polly Gammell
1989-90 — Janelle Eblen
1990-91 — Kandee Bishop
1991-92 — Tonya Latham
1992-93 — Emily Sevier
1993-94 — Tara Adams, Teri Bunkofske
1994-95 — Summer Hook
1995-96 — Cari Briley, Sarah Vicker
1996-97 — Lindsay Courtney
1997-98 — Casee Piel, Jessica Moeller
1998-99 — Leanne Owens
1999-00 — Emily Bruce, Michelle Clausen
2000-01 — Amanda Parker
2001-02 — Kylee Bradley, Jessica Schierbaum
2002-03 — Stormy Weis
2003-04 — Amy Goldsmith
2004-05 — Jacque Jay
2005-06 — Ashley Hartsook, Brittany Riley
2006-07 — Kari McCann
2007-08 — Meghin Krambeck
2008-09 — Morgan Evans, Nicole Hunter, Aubrey Pendegraft1972-73 — Jan Lesan
1973-74 — Ellen Pendegraft
1974-75 — Carol Reed,
Sue Tindle
1975-76 — Roxann
Sammons
1976-77 — Rhonda Piel
1977-78 — Dorothy Loos
1978-79 — Carol McFee,
Kerri Martin
1979-80 — Debbie Oxenrider
1980-81 — Janelle Johnson, Kelly Reed
1981-82 — Marty Lang
1982-83 — Melanie Blubaugh, Lynn Spurgeon
1983-84 — Donna Dickinson
1984-85 — Tawnya Antisdel
1985-86 — Lisa Becker, Lori Quam
1986-87 — Shannon Freeman
1987-88 — Deanne Eilers
1988-89 — Barb Bradley, Polly Gammell
1989-90 — Janelle Eblen
1990-91 — Kandee Bishop
1991-92 — Tonya Latham
1992-93 — Emily Sevier
1993-94 — Tara Adams,
Teri Bunkofske
1994-95 — Summer Hook
1995-96 — Cari Briley,
Sarah Vicker
1996-97 — Lindsay Courtney
1997-98 — Casee Piel,
Jessica Moeller
1998-99 — Leanne Owens
1999-00 — Emily Bruce,
Michelle Clausen
2000-01 — Amanda Parker
2001-02 — Kylee Bradley,
Jessica Schierbaum
2002-03 — Stormy Weis
2003-04 — Amy Goldsmith
2004-05 — Jacque Jay
2005-06 — Ashley Hartsook, Brittany Riley
2006-07 — Kari McCann
2007-08 — Meghin Krambeck
2008-09 — Morgan Evans, Nicole Hunter, Aubrey Pendegraft
PAST MALE WINNERS
Creston High School Outstanding Male Athlete Award winners:
1977-78 — Doug Lang
1978-79 — Kean Richard
1979-80 — Mark Evans
1980-81 — Todd Barkalow, Todd Nielsen
1981-82 — Brad Laird, Brad Olson
1982-83 — Roger Baker
1983-84 — Mike Lamb
1984-85 — Joel Christy
1985-86 — Casey Bryant
1986-87 — Matt Somers
1987-88 — Tim Somers
1988-89 — Mike Linch,
Brian Monday
1989-90 — Scott Driskell,
Dennis Shaw
1990-91 — Ryan Woods
1991-92 — Kurt Belger,
Jason Kinsella
1992-93 — Jed Gammell, B.J. Hellyer
1993-94 — Cory Latham,
Rick Van Pelt
1994-95 — Brian Gerleman,
Ethan Owens
1995-96 — Will Carroll,
Dustin Spainhower
1996-97 — Ben Gerleman,
Kyle McCann
1997-98 — Mike Mansour,
Conor Reed
1998-99 — Brian Bucklin,
Cory Gerleman
1999-00 — Tyler Hanson,
Adam Travis
2000-01 — Neil Lang
2001-02 — Matt Buck, Jason Hyde
2002-03 — Gabe Stofferahn
2003-04 — Michael Buck,
Ryan Steinkamp
2004-05 — Jim Ide
2005-06 — Trevor Conner,
G.G. Harris,
Dane Wardenburg
2006-07 — Keith Peterson,
Scott Vicker
2007-08 — Kalab Evans
2008-09 — Clay Daggett
(A list of winners previous to 1978 is unavailable from the school.)