Ireton awardees, from left to right, Mike Sloper, Adrienne Maday, Stephanie Lin, Catherine Babiec, Emily Quinn, Joey Gorman, and Mark Porter. Not pictured is Coach Neil Berkman
The Alexandria Sportsman’s Club honored six Bishop Ireton athletes and a coach at their 58th annual awards gala at the Westin Hotel in Alexandria Wednesday night. President Jeff Murphy welcomed athletes and their families from the four city high schools, Bishop Ireton, Episcopal, St Stephens/St Agnes School and TC Williams and introduced Channel 7’s sports reporter Britt McHenry as the evening’s guest of honor.
The club recognized 25 athletes from the four schools as well as a City Rec League athlete. They also lauded Ireton’s Neil Berkman, men’s basketball coach, as their coach-of-the-year for his 18-14 season, the most wins by an Ireton basketball team since 1986. Berkman’s squad pulled off the upset of the metro area high school in the WCAC’s quarterfinal round when the 8th seeded Cardinals upset the Conference’s undefeated, top-seeded Gonzaga by nine.
The Cardinals also pulled a coup’ of sorts by snaring both the men’s and women’s rower of the year awards. Seniors Joey Gorman, headed to George Washington University, and Princeton-bound Catherine Babiec, were tapped by the Club for recognition. The teams had their strongest season ever, the girls ranked 5th in the varsity 8+ boat while the boys earned a 12th place ranking in the US Rowing national championships.
Senior Mark Porter, Ireton’s rock solid number one player was named the City’s golfer of the year. Porter led the Cardinals to a winning season, capped by dual meet wins over DeMatha and Landon. The IAC defending champs suffered their first setback in 2 years at the hands of the Cardinals and the win over the Stags propelled the Cards into the championship flight of the WCAC tournament.
Emily Quinn capped her four-year swimming career on Cambridge Road with the women’s swimmer of the year award. The versatile Quinn, who also played softball, swam every stroke and nearly every distance for the Cardinal swim and dive team, keying the girls team to a NOVA Catholic team championship, as well as a 17-1 dual meet record and 4 years as the City team champions.
Adrienne Maday, a junior, won the women’s soccer player of the year award. The midfielder with a cannon shot and the ability to find the open man paced the Cardinals to another top echelon finish in the WCAC and a stay in the Washington Post’s top 10 listing of women’s high school programs.
Freshman Stephanie Lin captured the women’s tennis award for her play at number 4 singles and number 2 doubles. Lin had the most wins for the Cardinals this season and advanced to the WCAC championship match in number 4 singles before falling.
The Club selected Mike Sloper, father of the Cardinals’ tennis coach, Katie Sloper-Johnson as their Sportsman of the Year for his tireless devotion to the Club and willingness to take on any task, large or small, to get the job done.
In her remarks to the crowd, Ms McHenry related how her journey as a collegiate soccer player from rural Florida opened doors for her in journalism and, once the door was opened, her ability to take advantage of the opportunity, just like a good soccer player would, has propelled her to a rewarding career in Washington in sports journalism. She encouraged the athletes in attendance to use those lessons and successes in sports to move them ahead in life.
Processing your request, Please wait....
