FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
Nominees: Ky're Griffis and Kris Small
This runner competed all season long for the Generals' varsity team gradually improving his time from a 23:06 at the Bob Hans Invitational to his personal best of 19:38 at District Championships. His improvement shows a lot of promise heading into track season for the freshman runner and much more for cross-country seasons to come. The winner is Kris Small
SOPHOMORE OF THE YEAR:
Nominees: Chris Curry, Dezmin Danehy, Buay Deng, Seana Edwards, Creshanda Foy, Kristian King and Dominic Williams
She showed steady improvement all year long moving all the way up the Girls' Top 20 performance list to 4th with a 23:58 at District Championships. Her performances show promise for the future and she could likely make a run at the top girls time. The winner is Seana Edwards.
JUNIOR OF THE YEAR:
Nominees: Brenee Cummings, Marcel Enguerra and Michael Leathers
She ranked 19th in Lee history for the girls coming into the season. By the end of the season she improved her ranking to 16th all time in the girls 5k race with a 26:18 at District Championships. The winner is Brenee Cummings.
SENIOR OF THE YEAR:
Nominees: Keosha Blakely, Kiara Blakely, Kiana Brantley, Julie Deng and Rayford James
He was a team leader this season finishing first for the Generals in 10 of 13 races. His overall performance resulted in winning the Ponte Vedra Invitational, 2 national elite times, 1st Team All-Conference honors, and Individual Regional Qualifier honors. The winner is Rayford James.
MOST IMPROVED RUNNER:
Nominees: Buay Deng, Kris Small and Chris Curry
He finished the Bob Hans Invitational in 23:33, the first invitational of the season. He showed improvement week to week finishing the 5k in 19:42 at District Championships. His improvement of 3 minutes and 51 seconds was the largest invitational time improvement on the season. The winner is Chris Curry.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:
Nominees: Seana Edwards, Ky're Griffis and John Hutton
He was a surprise addition to the Generals team this season. His 17:56 at District Championships, which ranks him 8th all-time for the boys 5k race in Lee history, helped propel the Generals into the Regional Championships. The winner is Ky're Griffis.
SCHOLAR ATHLETE:
Nominees: Keosha Blakely, Kiara Blakely, Kiana Brantley, Brenee Cummings, Chris Curry, Dezmin Danehy, Buay Deng, Seana Edwards, Marcel Enguerra, Creshanda Foy, Ky're Griffis, John Hutton, Rayford James, Kristian King, Michael Leathers, Kris Small and Dominic Williams.
Cross-country is a sport of dedication in practice, determination on the course, but with any sport hard work in the class room is something more of which to be proud. This year the team as a whole had a GPA of 3.11. To take away from the performance of any athlete that shows dedication to the class room at the level they did this year would not be just. Yet this award was designated for the student with the highest GPA. For those not selected, you are a true scholar athlete, but the winner of the Scholar Athlete Award for Highest GPA is Kris Small.
PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR:
Nominees:
(1) Rayford James runs 16:16 at Alligator Lake
(2) Rayford James runs National Elite time winning the Ponte Vedra Invitational
(3) Ky're Griffis makes Lee Top 20 running 18:08 at the Ponte Vedra Invitational
(4) James and Williams make 1st Team All-Conference at Gateway Championships
(5) Dominic Williams runs 16:00 at State Championships.
The performances this year for the Generals make it hard to distinguish which is best. Any team would be proud to have one of these performances. Whether it be a runner stepping up in a meet in the absence of a top runner, the emergence of a new young runner, posting the solo National Elite time while winning an invitational, or having two runners earn 1st Team All-Conference honors. However, it's hard to argue against qualifying for State Championships as a sophomore and finishing 21st overall while surpassing the 3rd fastest time in school history. The winner is Dominic Williams runs 16:00 at State Championships.
MOST VALUABLE RUNNER:
Nominees: Ky're Griffis, Rayford James and Dominic Williams.
How do you measure the impact a runner has on a team? With that several runners helped make the team competitive this season. Value isn't just being the best runner on the team though or even a top runner. However, value also includes leadership and the impact a runner has on the intangibles of his teammates. For that, this runner's leadership was an example for all of the younger runners on the team and easily the most deserving. The winner is Rayford James.