The Sports Informant

The following is a story I wrote for the Folsom Telegraph. But we want to share your announcements, too. Send us your school’s award winners and The Sports Informant will put them on the site.

Seniors Brandon Babineaux and Maria Malone highlighted Folsom High School’s Athletic Awards Night on May 21 in the Jill Solberg Performing Arts Theater, earning Male Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year Awards, respectively.

Folsom High senior Maria Malone was named Female Athlete of the Year at the Awards Night. (Photo courtesy the Fader family)

The two were both surprised with the selections, but were thoroughly thankful for the prestigious recognition.

“I knew I was getting an award, but I didn’t know it was going to be this one,” said Babineaux, whose announcement was the second-to-last of the night, just prior to Malone’s. “They started going through (the awards) and I was like, uh, OK (because my name wasn’t called). I was kind of surprised.”

“I told Mr. (Athletic Director Jim) Bennett I wasn’t able to go, and he said, ‘You’re going to need to be there,’” said Malone, who rushed from an Aerojet scholarship awards dinner in Granite Bay to make the end of the FHS ceremony, where she was immediately pulled onto stage to earn the night’s final award. “I’m so happy that they waited for me. It means a lot. It’s really humbling and an honor.”

Several other awards were handed out by various representatives of the city, school and coaching staffs. Katie Edmiston, Rachael Lewin and Danielle Sonier earned Marty Parachou Female Soccer Scholarships, while Matt Satterfield and Shawn Smith were male recipients. Abraham Tom (cross country) and Blake Oliaro (football, lacrosse) won Lois B. Young Scholarships. Kelsey Warner (volleyball) won the Stan Harms Award for “the student who was dependable on and off the field.” Jordan Hart (wrestling) won the Mike Oreno Award for “hard work, tenacity, dedication and enthusiasm.” Sarah Hockensmith (track) won the Bob Jarman Award for “the outstanding senior who demonstrated a passion for sports and will be pursuing a career in education.” Tony Johnson (basketball) won the Dave Marlette Award for “the athlete who consistently demonstrated character.” David Graves (football) won the Tom Doherty Award for “the athlete who personifies the spirit of a true teammate.”

Babineaux watched as teammates Johnson and Graves won the two awards in his two sports and wondered what award he could possibly be winning.

“Dave and Tony are both great,” he said. “When they got their awards, I was just like, dang, the last one has to be me. It feels pretty good. It means a lot.”

Oliaro and Jessica Miller (cross country) were named Male and Female Scholar Athlete, and Blaine Katz won the FHS Spirit Award.

Malone, who had a stellar cross country season her senior year but had to sit out track because of an injury, also earned the Sac-Joaquin Section/Farmer’s Insurance Scholar Athlete of the Year Award.

“A year ago, I would have never imagined getting all of these awards,” she said. “Those are only for extremely awesome people. Now, it’s actually happening. I’m still amazed.”