Nearly 300 guests gathered at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Little Rock on Wednesday, May 4, to honor and celebrate Mount St. Mary Academy’s sports teams, student-athletes and coaching staff during the school’s annual Athletic Banquet.
Coaches introduced their respective teams during the event and presented the traditional awards for each player based on her years of participation. First-year players received a certificate, second-year players were given a MSM letter and symbol of the sports in which they played, third-year players received the coveted white sweatshirt with their name and sports monogrammed on the sleeves, and fourth-year players were gifted a wooden memento box engraved with their athletic accomplishments.
The recipients of a handful of special awards, which are selected by MSM athletic staff, were also announced during the banquet. This year’s winners include the following:
Msgr. Keany Award: Izzy Todd ’22
Donnie Bridges Award: Kate Raborn ’22
Sr. Phillipa Athletic Award: Sydney England ’22
Sr. Mary Phillipa Parent Award: Melanie Grace
Sr. Phillipa Manning Memorial Scholarship: Mia Aquino ’22
Mary Drake Award: Elizabeth Kehner ’23
Purple Heart Award: Savanna Hindman ’22 and Millie Ketcher ’23
Tri Belle Award: Kate Raborn ’22
Vassar-West Scholarship: Abigail Britt ’24
Clem Papineau Legacy Award: Elea Blakely ’22 and Katherine Meeks ’22
Marilyn Lenggenhager Passionate Athlete Award: Emery Horras ’23 and Josie Landrum ’22
Sara Fritz Outstanding Student Athletic Training Award: Autumn Moss ’23 and Abbie Thompson ’22
Manager of the Year: Mackenzie Edwards ’23 and Brooke Lee ’23
Most Valuable Freshman Award: Anna Kate Suffridge ’25
Most Valuable Belle: Millie Allgood ’22
Twenty-four student-athletes were recognized as Four-Year Scholars, having participated in athletics for all four years of high school and graduating with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. Millie Allgood and Eleanor Lewis were awarded the Top Scholar Athlete Award for maintaining the highest academic average while also participating in the athletic program at Mount.
MSM Athletic Director Lane West honored the coaching staff at the event, as well, and paid special tribute to Beth Pursley who is retiring at the end of the school year. Mrs. Pursley coached soccer and cross country during a large part of her 22 total years at MSM.
Congratulations to all of this year’s hard-working and dedicated student-athletes and their coaches.
Mount St. Mary Academy, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, develops young women with a moral and intellectual foundation rooted in Catholic tradition. Mercy-minded and college-prepared, our students meet the future with wisdom, compassion and integrity.