Apr 20, 2019 3 min read

Again this year, the Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association spotlights individuals who serve a valuable part in athletics. Their dedication and devotion is key and their importance is not lost on these programs they support.

Awards will be presented to these individuals at the Coach of the Year Banquet at 6 p.m. April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Southpointe.

Tickets for the banquet are $35 each and are on sale at Washington High School, 201 Allison Avenue, Washington, PA 15301. Reservations can be made by calling athletic director Mike Bosnic at 724-223-5085, ext. 2091.

All proceeds from the banquet benefit Special Olympics. The following are the individuals to be honored:

Chris Duggan will receive the Meghan Canterna Award for the Special Olympics Athlete of the Year.

The Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association will present the Dick Kohl Memorial to Mark John, longtime athletic director and coach at Laurel Highlands High School.

The Bill Christy Sportsmanship Award will be accepted by Colin Walters of McGuffey High School.

The Special Award will be presented to Joe Tuscano, assistant sports editor at the Observer-Reporter newspaper.

The Olympic Sports award, given to honor high school coaches in the off sports, are Joe Winans, the cross country coach at South Fayette High School, and Amy Casciola, the field hockey coach at Peters Township High School.

Bob Fee and Ron Tyburski are this year’s recipient of the Bill Christy Memorial Award Excellence in Officiating.

Each year, the Tri-County Athletic Directors’ Association awards scholarships to qualified student athletes. There are four girls and four boys earning those scholarships this year.

The female recipients are Abigail Cooper of Fort Cherry, Kasey Scears of Chartiers-Houston, Helina VanBibber of South Fayette and McKenna Lampe of West Greene. The male recipients are Cameron Cernuska of Jefferson-Morgan, Dominic Fundy of Beth-Center, Daniel Layton of Waynesburg and Matthew Barrish of Carmichaels.

The Special Recognition Award recognizes an athlete who has either won a state individual title or was named to one of the all-state teams by a Pennsylvania Coaches Association or by a panel of sports writers from across the state. This year’s honorees are the following:

Kaci Alderson and Kasey Scears of Chartiers-Houston, Allyn Bezjak and Annnalia Paoli of Albert Gallatin, Christian Clutter of McGuffey, Ryan Coe, Jamie Diven and Mike Trimbur of South Fayette, Skye Eicher and Logan Hartman of Frazier, Jadyn Hartner of Fort Cherry, Madison Lampe, McKenna Lampe, Jade Renner, Madison Renner and Kaitlyn Rizor of West Greene, Thayne Lawrence of Frazier, Gerrit Nijenhuis of Canon-McMillan, Madison Telegraphis and Dana Vatakis of Monessen, Anna Vogt of Ringgold, Dan Walker Jr. of Washington and Cullin Woytovich of Charleroi.