Max Alllin , left Deanna Kerkhof and Bryce Cumming were named the 2008-09 athletes of the year at the Ursuline College Chatham athletic awards banquet Wednesday night.  Allin is a three-time winner and Kerkhof won for the second straight year.

Beloved by their teammates, Wallaceburg's Brooke Lee and Ursuline's Anthony Praill proved to be popular with Dr. Jack Parry Award voters, too. They were chosen last night as the top graduating high school student-athletes in Chatham-Kent. Lee and Praill were praised as not only outstanding athletes but also great leaders and classmates during the 16th annual ceremony at the Ursuline College Chatham auditorium. "She's one of the most balanced people I've ever seen in my life," Wallaceburg athletic director Don Martin said about Lee. "She conducts herself professionally. Her teammates love her." Lee is the fourth straight Tartan and fifth overall to win the girls' award. No other school has won more than two in a row. Praill is also the fifth Lancer to win the boys' trophy. "He has the whole package," Ursuline athletic director Jeff Denomy said. "By and large, he's probably one of the nicest kids to come through our school ever, too." Each winner received a $1,000 scholarship. 

Lee played soccer, basketball and volleyball for four years at Wallaceburg, including at least three senior seasons in each sport. She captained all three teams this year. "I really enjoy it, especially being a senior and helping the younger (players), having that responsibility," she said. "And watching the young people, I can see who's going to be the leaders, too. That's kind of neat." She was a first-team basketball all-star and a second-team volleyball all-star this year. Lee, 17, wants to play soccer at Brock University next season. "Soccer is my favourite sport, but the basketball program I've enjoyed so much at Wallaceburg," she said. " It's amazing at our school." Her numerous school projects included anti-bullying and antismoking campaigns, frosh week events and the student athletic association. Her average in university-level classes is 90 per cent. "In my opinion, I have not forwarded a better (Parry) candidate than her," Martin said. The previous three Wallaceburg winners were Kayla Pauwels (2008), Jaime Gittens (2007) and Katie Shepley (2006). Praill was an all-star linebacker on the Ursuline football team and played on the soccer team. Both squads won Kent titles. He won the 83-kilogram division at the SWOSSAA wrestling championships and was fifth at the OFSAA meet. Plus, he was on the track and field team. " He's tough and he's smart, which is a great combination," Denomy said. "And he's very popular in the school." Praill, 17, also stayed busy as prime minister of the student council. "I don't sleep very much, I guess," he said. "I do a lot of late night homework." Praill is one of three students in the St. Clair Catholic District School Board to win the Margaret Nelson Leadership Award that comes with a $5,000 scholarship. He's active with Scouts Canada, the Muskoka Woods Leadership program and Christ Church. Praill devotes his time for the sense of satisfaction that comes with winning a championship or helping someone in need. " The feeling of accomplishment," he said. Praill said he's enjoyed a great career at Ursuline. " Things like this are just an added bonus," he said about the Parry Award. He wants to try out for the football and wrestling teams at the University of Guelph next season. CORRECTION: Parry nominee Jeremy Smith of Lambton-Kent Composite S chool was misidentified in The Daily News on Thursday due to an offsite editing error.

Ask Ursuline College Chatham students a question and they'll probably have the answer. 

Luc Beuglet, front left, K. Quinn Smith, Heather Van Praet, and Ryan Collins, along with classmate Shasta Tunks, absent, and coaches Mike Dodok, back left, Lisa Campagna and Craig Hobin brought home the hardware for the fourth year in a row during the Kent County Reach trivia competition.

For the fourth consecutive year, they are the local champs in that department. The school captured the Kent County School Reach trophy, and also had a respectable showing at a recent Toronto competition. School Reach - which is based on the television show - consists of trivia questions on a wide variety of subjects. Coach Craig Hobin said he was proud of the students, some of whom are almost finished high school. "This year was like a culminating year," he said yesterday. "They all put in quite a bit of time." Hobin said although they won four in a row, the local competition was solid and put up a decent fight. " They gave us a pretty good run," he said. Ryan Collins, 18, said trivia is something he's always been involved in. "It's a lot of fun," he said. We're a little group of people that gets along." In Toronto, the team finished 22nd out of 44 teams. Hobin said the students held their own among the other schools. Seventeen-year-old Luc Beuglet said specialization in a certain area of trivia can help, but believes the more you know about everything, the better. "It's more a matter of being well rounded," he said. Heather Van Praet, 16, said many on the team take part in other extracurricular activities and sports. However, she found School Reach was more relaxing. "It was something that could help us unwind," she said. "It's not too stressful." However, K. Quinn, 17, said that doesn't mean they didn't take competing seriously over the years. "It was intense, but a lot of fun," she said. Also on the team, but missing yesterday, was Shasta Tunks, 18.

Colin McArthur (5) and the Ursuline Lancers are seeded eighth for the OFSAA 'AAAA' soccer championship that begins Thursday in Toronto. 

The Ursuline Lancers want to use the element of surprise at the OFSAA 'AAAA' boys soccer championship. They're making just the second OFSAA trip in school history, and the first since going to the 'AA' tournament in 2000. Play begins Thursday in Toronto. " I think experience would be good, but it (OFSAA inexperience) could also be good because no one's heard of us," Lancers defender Jeremy Gorzelak said. "They don't know what to expect. We can come out and surprise them." The Lancers qualified by winning their first Kent title since 2002 and their first SWOSSAA title ever. They're seeded eighth out of 16 teams, based on OFSAA results for SWOSSAA champions from the past five seasons. They rolled through the regular season and playoffs with a 12-0 record, outscoring teams by a combined 51-4. The roster has players from the Chatham City, Chatham Express and Wallaceburg Sting men's travel teams. To take advantage of their talented and versatile lineup, the Lancers like to change positions on the fly. Midfielders move up, forwards drop back and defenders join the rush to confuse their opponents. "Basically just trying to throw the other teams off here and there," head coach Darby Kalp said. They bounced back with a strong season after missing the Kent playoffs and losing a pair of SWOSSAA playoff games last year. " The skill's the same as last year," co-captain Bryce Cumming said. " This year we just came together. Every tournament we played in, we've been dominant." The Lancers went to two tournaments, winning at the University of Windsor and placing second at McGregor. Players are curious to see how they stack up against the best teams in the province. " That's what we're going to find out this year," forward-midfielder Adam daSilva said. Expectations are high. They want a medal. "It's going to be pretty tough," Cumming said. "The competition's going to be incredible there. But that's what we want: to medal. Or at least open some eyes." DaSilva was their scoring star in the three Kent and SWOSSAA playoff games, scoring twice in each contest. Goalkeeper Adriano Deabreu has been solid all season behind a strong defence led by Gorzelak, Steve Urquhart and Eduard Navara.

GR12 Students stand next to their many awards won at the New York Heritage Music Festival. From left Samantha Estoesta and McKenzie Mitchell, are the Prime Ministers of the UCC Musical Society. 

Despite a near traumatizing experience, a concert band from Ursuline College Chatham won a major award when they performed in New York City. After finishing a warm up prior to performing on stage at the New York City Heritage Festival, approximately 20 members of UCC's concert group and their conductor were trapped in an elevator. Clarinet player Samantha Estoesta said she was one of the 50 members of the concert band who wasn't on the elevator and she was waiting on stage with no idea what happened to the rest of her band. "The rest of us proceeded to go on stage without our complete first row and our conductor. We were sitting out there in front of our school, some other schools and the adjudicators, waiting and waiting. We had no idea what was going on," said Estoesta. The elevator was stalled between the first and second floors until one of the band members on stage received a text message from the conductor trapped in the elevator. Mackenzie Mitchell, a clarinet player who was trapped in the elevator, said it was tough being stuck in the small space with so many people and it was easy to feel claustrophobic. " We were pressing the panic button and the alarms," said Mitchell. " Then we heard a little voice say, 'We'll get you out of there soon.'" The band members and the conductor were rescued from the elevator and then rushed on stage to perform. "It was pretty traumatizing for some of them but it was a good moment for all of us when they finally got everyone out," said Estoesta. Despite being trapped in an enclosed space for 30 minutes, the concert band performed and was awarded silver for their excellence. "I think it was the adrenaline rush that we got," said Mitchell. UCC was also awarded silver in jazz and choir. As well they won the the Festival Sweepstakes award for the most points at the competition and the Spirit of New York City Award. "(The spirit award) is based on the school who represents their school spirit the best. We cheer for everyone not just for our own school, and really that's what we go for," said Mitchell. "We go there to have fun." Mitchell added that the UCC teams aimed to win the spirit award but were shocked when they won the biggest award, the Festival Sweepstakes award. " Winning the sweepstakes trophy just blew our minds," she said.