It was time at SMS to celebrate the student athletes who have competed successfully during the school year. Suwannee Middle School athletes, parents, faculty members and coaches gathered in the school cafeteria for an awards assembly May 17.

This year’s SMS volleyball team was coached by Tommy Abercrombie. Abercrombie said the middle school’s goal is to prepare the players for high school by teaching them the game and helping them develop skills.

Most Improved Volleyball player was Sidney Royals. The Coach’s Award went to Sieda Pipkin. The MVP was Natalie Pecina.

Girls basketball at SMS was an extremely young team. Sixty percent of the team was sixth grade girls with only three eighth graders on the team. Look out for this group in years to come.

The Hustle Award went to Kamisha Thomas. Offensive MVP went to Ashley Cato. Defensive MVP went to Lacey Tooten. The Coach’s Award went to Tara Oliver.

Boys basketball doubled their wins over last year. That meant they went from two wins to four. But an increase is an increase. There were eight seventh-grade players and only three eighth-grade players.

Most Improved went to Jaterrio Bing. Corey White garnered the Academic Award. White participated in three sports. The Coach’s Award went to jay Chambers.

Wrestling is huge at Suwannee Middle School. Coach Randy McManaway leads the wrestlers to championships and multiple wins every year while preparing the wrestlers to enter the high school program.

Most Takedowns went to Travis Laxton. Laxton also netted the MVP award as well as being voted team captain by the wrestlers. Laxton won every match this year except one.

Most Pins went to two wrestlers Markus Smith and Caleb Bedenbaugh.

Soccer has grown tremendously in Suwannee County due to the extensive Recreation Department program. Soccer is relatively new at the middle school level. The middle school program has been working on developing talent for the high school soccer teams. Harrison Ambrose is the soccer coach for both teams. He said, SMS soccer gets more competitive every year. This year’s girls’ soccer team had the best season ever. The girls’ record was 8-2.

Defender of the Year was Dana McMullen. Outstanding Midfielder went to Dee Sardina. Forward of the Year was Blair Clayton.

In boys’ soccer, Ambrose said the number-one accomplishment was 20 players had a 3.0 GPA or better. Boys soccer came in second in the Lake City Tournament, losing only to Lake City. The Bullpup soccer team turned around and beat Lake City at the end of the season.

Sixth-grade MVP went to Stuart and Jackson brown.

Seventh-grade MVP went to Austin O’Conner and Tripp Prevatt.

Eighth-grade MVP went to Timmy Smith.

SMS softball had a fantastic year ending the season 13-3. SMS softball went 13-3 last year as well, but after losing two coaches and nine starters, the team was still able to post the same record.

Five SMS softball players had a batting average better than .300. The team’s mission is to produce a player the high school can use.

Softball Coach’s Award went to Lauren Michaels. Defensive Player of the Year went catcher to Dee Sardina. Offensive Player of the Year went to first-baseman Haley Hunt. Softball MVP went to pitcher Dale Townsend with 176 strikeouts over the season.

Baseball at the middle school had a losing year, including sixth-graders into the program to fill out the roster. Offensive Player of the Year, led in hitting, and went to Markus Smith.

Defensive Player of the Year went to Dalton Wigglesworth.

Coach’s Award for baseball went to Ty Ragans.

Football also posted a poor season. Coach Robinson said the seventh-graders had to carry a lot of weight this year, but he kept to his policy of giving awards to eighth-graders only.

Offensive Back of the Year went to Alex Fountain.

Defensive Back of the Year went to Markus Smith.

Offensive Lineman of the Year went to Larry Allen.

Defensive Lineman of the Year went to Garrett Pritchett.

Football Coach’s Award went to Matthew Phillips.