Kathy Masterson, the East Hampton School District's athletic director, and a cafeteria-full of parents and friends commended the student-athletes of the class of 2024 at a senior awards dinner on June 4.
Of the school's top 20 students, 16 were athletes, she said, adding that "every team was a New York State scholar-athlete team, earning us a school-of-distinction designation, an awesome accomplishment."
Leah Fromm, the class's salutatorian, who's looking forward to a career in agricultural research, got the ball rolling by saying how happy she was to have joined the cross-country team as a sophomore after having played tennis as a ninth grader. Running, she said — she also ran long-distance races in spring track — helps to clear the mind and relieve stress. She was blessed, she added, with inspiring coaches, namely Diane O'Donnell, Nick DeLuca, Yani Cuesta, Sharon McCobb, and Eric Malecki. Running, she concluded, with a laugh, "keeps you sane."
The Paul Yuska Award, which traditionally has gone to the senior class's top male and female athletes, went, for the first time, to three awardees, Charlie Corwin, Dylan Cashin, and Ryleigh O'Donnell, the latter two having recently been honored as News 12 scholar-athletes of the month. Corwin quarterbacked Bonac's football team and led the South Fork Islanders boys lacrosse team. O'Donnell and Cashin have served as the race directors of the popular May Day 5K here, a benefit for mental health counseling that they founded two years ago.
There were 15 awards and scholarships given out that night. The Kendall Madison mentoring scholarship went to Liam Fowkes; Corwin and Emma McGrory were cited as Dellecave Award winners; Luke Castillo received an Art Jones scholarship from his wrestling coach, Ethan Mitchell; Jack Cooper and Lola Garneau were recipients of the Marine Corps award.
Nick Cooper, the class's valedictorian, and Fromm were designated as the principal's scholar-athletes; Fowkes and Katie Kuneth won the athletic director's award; Old Montauk Athletic Club scholarship recipients were Cashin, O'Donnell, Fowkes, and Ruby Tyrrell; Hoops 4 Hope's Ubuntu scholarship went to Brian Tacuri and Kuneth, and Bonac Booster Club scholarships were given out to Castillo, Cashin, O'Donnell, and Nico Horan-Puglia.
There were 12 Section XI Gold Key winners, attesting to the fact that the following had played eight or more sports at the varsity or junior varsity level between their sophomore and senior years: Cashin, Thinley Edwards, Fowkes, Garneau, Kuneth, McGrory, O'Donnell, Brayan Rivera, Melina Sarlo, Chase Siska, Tyrrell, and Judah D'Andrea.
The Molly Cangiolosi scholarship, given out by her great-granddaughter, Lilah Brown, and the high school's former principal Christopher Sarlo, went to his granddaughter, Melina Sarlo, an all-around athlete who, Lilah, said, embodied "the spirit of Molly," a longtime physical education teacher and coach here who early on worked toward putting girls sports on an equal footing with boys sports.
As the winner of the award, first given to her mother, Annemarie Cangiolosi Brown, by Christopher Sarlo 26 years ago, Melina Sarlo, the M.V.P. in field hockey and girls lacrosse, had demonstrated a love of sports and learning and work that enriches the school and the community, "just like Molly," Lilah said.
The James P. McNally scholarship, honoring an athlete and role model for youngsters who died young, was presented by Colleen McNally Stonemetz to Siena Link-Morse.
In a conversation afterward, Stonemetz, who fell one vote shy of winning the award herself in 1978, said that "initially it was only given to males, but my father, who had four daughters, agreed that it should go to girls too."
Besides Sarlo, who is to play women's lacrosse at Hofstra, the following seniors were M.V.P.s of their teams: Cashin, girls cross-country; Corwin, football and boys lacrosse; Fowkes, boys basketball; Horan-Puglia, golf; Tacuri, boys soccer; Kuneth, girls volleyball, girls basketball, and softball; Rivera, boys winter track, and O'Donnell, girls winter track and girls spring track.
The seniors who received most-improved awards from their coaches during the school year were: Castillo, wrestling; Chris Chimbo, boys winter track; Zach Dodge, boys basketball and baseball; Fiorella Duran, girls spring track; Nicholas Guerrero, boys soccer; Aydin Kastrati, boys volleyball; McGrory, girls lacrosse; Juan Palacios golf, and Karen Pillco, girls soccer.
Masterson ended the ceremony by singing Tim McGraw's "Humble and Kind," tearing up at the end when she sang, "Don't take for granted the love this life gives you / When you get where you're going don't forget to turn back around / And help the next one in line / Always stay humble and kind."
"Class of 2024, it has been my honor and privilege to be your A.D.," she said in conclusion. "Now go out and show the world what it is like to be from Bonac!"
