UNBC Timberwolves women's basketball recruit Emily Holmes is well known to the principal of Duchess Park secondary school.
But you don't get on the Principal's List for bad behaviour. It's all about achieving good grades and Holmes has made that a habit throughout her high school athletic career. As one of this year's three recipients of the Ron Pettigrew Scholarship, Holmes has had a standout year as an all-star and most valuable player in basketball, volleyball and soccer.
At point guard she quarterbacked the Condors' basketball team to a fifth-place finish in March in the provincial girls double-A championship, after being ranked No. 1 in the province throughout the season.
In December, Holmes helped the Condors volleyball team to a fourth-place provincial result and was this year's senior athlete of the year at Duchess Park. She also won the senior art award at Duchess.
The Pettigrew Scholarship is named after the principal of the Bethel Christian School in (Dawson Creek), who died in a winter highway accident along with five members of the senior boys basketball team.
Wrestler Jennor Nohr of Nechako Valley secondary school in Vanderhoof and mountain bike racer/snowboard crosser Elise Dube of Lakes District secondary in Burns Lake were also named winners of the Pettigrew award.
Nohr, an honours student and class valedictorian, was a zone and provincial champion in wrestling. He was named the North Central District zone MVP at the PGSS tournament and was a bronze medalist at the B.C. Winter Games. He also serves as a volunteer coach and wrestling official.
Dube was a provincial champion in mountain biking (cross-country and enduro) and won snowboarding titles (GS, all-terrain and overall) for three straight years. She placed sixth at the snowboardcross junior national championships and 13th at the senior national championships.
Dube was also MVP of her school's soccer team and her dedication to academics earned her an honour roll with distinction award. She also volunteers with the Mountain Bike Association in Burns Lake, coaches youth soccer and is active in the Rotary Club.
In other North Central District School Athletic Association awards, Fort St. James secondary was the single -A school of the year and Duchess Park captured double-A school-of-the-year honours. There were no triple-A school-of-the-year nominations.
The Duchess Park senior girls basketball team had just two losses all season and was selected as team of the year, while the Condors junior girls team also made the list, with just two losses the entire season and a third-place provincial finish.
The 34-athlete Nechako Valley wrestling team placed 13 wrestlers in the provincial championships. The team finished third at the Grande Prairie tournament and was fifth at the University of Alberta tournament in Edmonton.
Scott Walton of PGSS was named rookie coach of the year for his efforts in guiding the Polars senior boys basketball team to the City League title. Senior coaching awards went to Dave Holmes (Duchess Park senior girls basketball), Brian Nemethy (Nechako Valley cross country, track and field) and Sarah Grill (Fort St. James secondary). James Waddell (Fort St. James) was chosen athletic director of the year.
