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Sports
Local student-athletes recognized, scholarships awarded during annual Frontiersman/Sea Hawkers awards banquet
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The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman and the Mat-Su Sea Hawkers recognized more than a dozen local student-athletes and a pair of head coaches during the annual Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman/ Mat-Su Sea Hawkers Student-Athlete of the Year Banquet Sunday night at Evangelo’s in Wasilla.
Colony High senior Hallie Clark and Palmer High senior KJ Henry were named the 2025 girls and boys student-athletes of the year. Each received a $1,500 scholarship, courtesy of the Sea Hawkers, with their honor.
Clark led the Knights to a girls basketball state championship and was named the state’s player of the year as a senior, while carrying a 4.0 grade point average. Henry was a standout on Palmer’s football and basketball teams, and sported a 4.1 GPA.
Clark and Henry were among 13 finalists from Mat-Su high schools, and part of a group that also included Colony senior Coby Marvin, Houston seniors Ashlyn McRoberts and Terje McClurg, Mat-Su Career Tech seniors Sarah Callender and Grayson McDowell, Mat-Su Central seniors Noelle Buck and Kinan Greco, Palmer seniors Brooke Hronkin and Kaden Henry, Redington senior Christian Ingraham, and Wasilla seniors Mylee Anderson and Stephen Hafen.
The Frontiersman and Sea Hawkers also named their coaches of the year, Colony girls basketball head coach Tom Berg and Palmer hockey coach Rusty Belanger.
The night also included the MatSuSports Awards, sponsored by Bruce Eggleston of matsusports.net. The 2025 winners are Anderson and her Wasilla High teammate Layla Hays, and Colony High’s Benson Tedd.
Each coach of the year received $250 to go toward their program, courtesy of the Sea Hawkers. Each of the remaining 11 finalists received $100 to go toward their education.
A pair of NFL veterans were the keynote speakers. Former Denver Broncos offensive lineman and current Minnesota Vikings offensive line coach Chris Kuper appeared via Zoom. Former Seattle Seahawks great, quarterback Jim Zorn, was the keynote speaker for the evening.
For more on the award winners and finalists, see a special section of the Frontiersman in the May 14 edition.
Contact the Frontiersman at news@frontiersman.com.
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