Eastview honors its athletic achievers

Ceremony plays beat the clock with Timberwolves’ Game 7

After suddenly learning they were up against the clock, Eastview High School staff honored its 2023-24 class of senior student-athletes on Sunday evening.

The Senior Athletic Recognition Ceremony had long been on the calendar and preparations were almost complete when school administrators learned the seventh game of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ series against Denver would be played Sunday night. The school’s ceremony started about an hour before the basketball game. Activities director Matt Percival and master of ceremonies Jim Carroll worked to keep things moving so a large number of award winners could be recognized in time for those who wanted to see the Timberwolves’ victory to get in front of a television screen.

According to the school, 251 Eastview seniors were involved in at least one District 196-sponsored athletic activity during 2023-24. A number of them were involved in more than one, including the first 18-time varsity letter-winner in school history. Emily Percival, who will compete in Nordic skiing at St. Lawrence University, lettered six times each in cross country, Nordic skiing and track and field.

Five students were three-sport athletes as seniors. Twenty-six maintained summa cum laude grade-point averages of 3.9 or higher through the third quarter of the 2023-24 school year.

Emily Percival was Eastview’s winner of the Athena Award, given to a school’s top senior female athlete. She also earned the school’s female scholar-athlete award. Cooper DeSutter was the male student-athlete of the year and Michael Cherevatsky the male scholar-athlete award winner.

Riley Myers and Kevin Woehler earned distinguished athlete awards sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps, and Nora Gruman and Grayson Osberg received the USMC’s scholastic excellence award.

Emily Hering and Connor Barry were Eastview’s nominees for the Minnesota State High School League Triple-A Award, which recognized academic excellence, citizenship and athletics and fine arts participation.

Eastview senior Kyle Jacobson received the Ed Prohofsky Award, given by the Minnesota Adapted Athletics Association to the state’s most valuable players in the CI and PI divisions. Jacobson last weekend led the Dakota United co-op team to the CI Division adapted softball championship. This is the second consecutive year an Eastview student has won the Prohofsky award.

The school also honored conference championship teams, state tournament qualifiers and students who will go on to play college sports at Sunday’s ceremony.