Albright, Hood Are Named Outstanding EHS Athletes
By David Latva

At left, Stefen Albright is pictured with his mother, Diane. At right, Grayson Hood is pictured with his father, Howard. The Engadine High School seniors shared the Outstanding Athlete award.

Seniors Stefen Albright and Grayson Hood shared the Outstanding Athlete award at Engadine High School during the annual awards banquet Saturday, May 12.

The outstanding athletes from 1984, Diane (nee Dementer) Albright and Howard Hood each presented the awards to their sons.

Albright and Hood shared the football Most Valuable Player Award, Albright for basketball allaround, and Hood for best defensive basketball player. The pair were named to the All-Upper Peninsula, All-Eastern Upper Peninsula Conference (EUPC), and The St. Ignace News All-Area Teams. Both are standouts on the track teams.

Girls Varsity Basketball

Coach Jerry Derusha awarded Elicia Derusha the Most Valuable Player award. She is the Eagles'All- State, All-Upper Peninsula, EUPC Player of the Year, and a member of the All-Area Dream Team.

Lauren MacArthur received Most Improved Player and Chloe Fletcher was recognized for her assistance as manager.

Varsity Football

Coach Howard Hood presented the Most Improved Player award to Chris Keller; Ron Weger received the Lineman Award; Grayson Hood won the Defensive Award; Dylan Duflo and Grayson Hood shared the Roger Nesbit Award; Doug Fulton was awarded the Senior Week Award, and Dalton Zdebski and Aspen Hood were recognized as the managers.

Varsity Boys Basketball

Coach Elmer Albright awarded Most Valuable Player to David Derusha.

Nathan Butkovich was named Most Improved Player, while John Troyer won the Mr. Hustle Award.

Michael Bennett was awarded the Coaches Award and manager Elicia Derusha was also recognized.

Varsity Volleyball

Coach Kathy Miller presented the Most Valuable Player, Serving Award, and Captain's Medal to Rose Paquin.

Tristina Browning was named Most Improved Player, and Chloe Fletcher was awarded the Captain's Medal and Backcourt Support Award. Samantha Dunne won the Coaches Award; Nicole Benoit was honored with the Feisty Award, and Kaylin Edgar was recognzied for her assistance as manager.

Varsity Football Cheerleading

Samantha Dunne received the Most Valuable Player award, while LeAnn Gribbell was given the Most Improved Player and Erica Bryer was awarded the Most Spirited award.

Bigger, Blanchard Named

To Eagles Hall of Fame

Skip Bigger, a 1971 graduate of Engadine, and Rod Blanchard, a 1978 alumnus, received the Golden Eagle Award to the Engadine Hall of Fame.

During his senior year, Bigger was named EUPC Offensive Player of the Year after guiding the Eagles football team to a 7-0 mark, which was ranked seventh in the state polls.

He received MVP honors, All- EUPC, and All-State honors and was rated by Central Michigan University as a blue chip player, the highest ranking on the collegiate scouting scale. Bigger lettered four years in track and three seasons on the varsity basketball team.

Blanchard lettered in football, basketball, track, and baseball during his four years at Engadine High School. He was the first player to score more than 1,000 career points and held the single-game mark of 48 points while earning All-EUPC and MVP honors in basketball and football.