EDSS fetes its top athletes

Elmira District Secondary School handed out awards to its top athletes at the school athletic banquet June 11. Taking home the awards for top senior male and female athletes were Scott Albrecht and Melissa Blake.

Blake, a five-sport athlete who excelled in all of her sports, said winning the award still came as a surprise.

“It actually was, I was not expecting that at all,” she said.

Blake was also honoured with an award recognizing extraordinary contribution to Lancer athletics over five years, an award that hasn’t been handed out for eight years.

Blake is finishing her fifth year at EDSS, having returned partly to boost a few marks but mostly to play sports for another year. This year, she was a strong presence on the basketball, volleyball and slo-pitch teams and also competed in badminton and javelin.

Blake said one of her favourite moments in sports this year was the basketball team’s playoff game.

“It was one of my better games. It was intense, the stands were full,” she said.

Another highlight was setting a Waterloo County record in the javelin throw. Blake bested her own record toss from the year before with a throw of 36.09 metres.

Next fall, Blake will be heading to the University of Louisiana at Monroe on a javelin scholarship. She had offers from several schools, but ultimately settled on Lousiana.

“I really liked the coach and it was a smaller school, so it made me feel more like home,” she said.

Blake will be studying biological science, with plans to major in marine biology.

Like Blake, Albrecht didn’t expect to be singled out for an award.

“There are lots of other people that are good athletes and play lots of sports,” he said.

Albrecht played volleyball, basketball and rugby at EDSS. Outside school, he also plays in a men’s hockey league.

Albrecht will be returning to EDSS for one semester next year, to pick up an extra university credit and play volleyball and basketball.

Albrecht isn’t sure yet what he’d like to study in university; he’s thinking about social work or teaching in the future. He enjoys being around kids – he’ll be a counsellor at Conestoga Bible Camp again this summer – and would like a career that involves working with children.

At this point, he hasn’t heard anything from universities about athletic scholarships, but he certainly wouldn’t turn one down if offered.

“If it happens, that’s great; if it doesn’t, that’s fine too.”