Family ties in athlete of year awards
All of the Times Review Media Group’s 2018-19 athlete of the year award recipients are first-time winners. However, three winners have had family ties to the award.
Greenport High School senior soccer player Jillian Golden is following a family tradition of sorts, both in playing the sport and as an athlete of the year award winner. Both of her older sisters are previous winners. Jessica Golden was an athlete of the year in 2007-08 before Sarah Golden received the honor the next two years.
Mattituck junior Mackenzie Hoeg (basketball, lacrosse) is a winner, just like her older sister Katie Hoeg was in 2015-16 and her brother James Hoeg in 2016-17.
In the case of Riverhead senior Kayla Kielbasa (field hockey, lacrosse), she’s following in the footsteps of her younger sister, Megan, a junior who won the award last year.
The award for the top Greenport male athlete was shared by junior Ahkee Anderson (football, basketball) and senior Jaxan Swann (soccer, basketball, track and field). It’s the first time the honor has been shared by Greenport boys.
Southold seniors Emily Russell (volleyball, winter track, spring track) and Max Kruszeski (basketball, lacrosse) were selected by The Suffolk Times along with Mattituck senior Ryan Seifert (golf, basketball, lacrosse).
For the first time in five years, Shoreham-Wading River’s female athlete of the year isn’t named Katherine Lee, the cross country and track standout who is now running for Georgetown University. This year the award went to Nicky Constant (soccer, lacrosse). Senior state champion swimmer Jason Louser is the SWR male athlete of the year. Riverhead senior Cristian Pace (football, basketball) was also named by the Riverhead News-Review as an athlete of the year.
The awards were presented Thursday evening at Times Review Media Group’s offices in Mattituck. For more in-depth profiles of each winner, check the June 27 issue of The Suffolk Times.
Photo caption: The Suffolk Times Athletes of the Year: (from left) Ryan Seifert, Mackenzie Hoeg, Max Kruszeski, Emily Russell, Jaxan Swann, Jillian Golden and Ahkee Anderson. (Credit: Joe Werkmeister)
