2019 Award Winners

January 20, 2020January 20, 2020 Paul Clark

2019 Female Athlete of the Year = Kayla Konwent (Salem)

2019 Male Athlete of the Year = Willie DuChemin (Randall)

2019 Team of the Year = Kenosha Komets 18U

2019 Coach of the Year = Jason Koeppel (Bristol)

2019 Sports Business of the Year = Subway (Twin Lakes)

2019 Prediction of the Year = Field House at Central

Kayla Konwent is the County Sports Page’s 2019 Female Athlete of the Year. The local kid from Salem was an NCAA Division-1 first team All-American, and a unanimous choice. The former Falcon star was the 2019 Big Ten Player of the Year. She ranked 4th in the nation with a .582 OBP, and 5th in the nation with a .459 Batting Average. She led the entire Big Ten in: Batting Average, On-Base-Percentage, Slugging Percentage, and Total Bases. She is the only Badger to ever win an individual Big Ten award, since they began in 1985.

**Kayla Konwent** says her favorite local athlete is softball player and neighbor, **Lila McNeill.** “*Her love and knowledge of the game make her a really special player.*” She also said that **Julie Eckhart** and **Melissa Bahnson**, were her favorite Central teachers, and inspired her to pursue a business-like degree.

Willie DuChemin will repeat as the County Sports Page’s Male Athlete of the Year Award. The Randall School 6th-grader won the 2019 Wisconsin Wrestling Federation State Championship in the 60-pound weight class. He was also the Track Wrestling Preseason National Champion in the 12U 65-pound weight class.

Sixth-grader, **Willie DuChemin**, is a defending 3x Wisconsin State Champion in wrestling. His favorite teacher is **Mrs** (Lisa) **Van Zeeland** at Randall School. He is also a star baseball player for the Genoa City Predators.

The Kenosha Komets 18U hockey team is the County Sports Page’s 2019 Team of the Year. The team won the Wisconsin State Championship over the Green Bay Bobcats, and went on as Team Wisconsin in the Tier II National Tournament in San Jose in April. The team featured county stars:

#2 Luke Shurtleff (Trevor)
#17 Kevin Keating (Trevor)
#39 Trent Kmiec (Salem)
#41 Shaw Johnson (Trevor)
#81 Chase Erickson (Trevor)

Countians, **Trent Kmiec** (#39), **Chase Erickson** (#81), **Kevin Keating** (#17), and **Luke Shurtleff** stand for the National Anthem before this game in February. The **18U Komets** won the State Championship over Green Bay on March 9th.

Youth football coach, Jason Koeppel, is the County Sports Page’s 2019 Coach of the Year. Coach Koeppel led the Jr Falcon 8th-grade football team to the program’s first and only Super Bowl championship. He led the team to an undefeated season at 9-0. Star LB/RB Mason Mitacek said coach Koeppel “has a strong work ethic and believes that you can do anything if you work hard enough. He remembers where he was as a player, and what it takes to compete.“

Bristol’s **Jason Keoppel** is the head football coach for the undefeated 2019 Super-Bowl-winning Jr Falcon Football team. Program founder, **Victor Nightingale**, says Coach Keoppel *“invokes the kids to do, and be, more than they think they can be*.” He is the 2019 Coach of the Year.

2019 Sports Business of the Year = **Subway – Twin Lakes**

2019 Prediction of the Year = Central High District Administrator, **John Gendron** (center), will bring the biggest and best **field house** in the conference to Central High School. He’ll do it smart, and he’ll partner with businesses to relieve the burden on our taxpayers. – *I have no inside information. But I can tell you that the basketball team isn’t going to be waiting around a wrestling dual so they can squeeze in a 9:30pm practice afterwards.* (Gendron is seated here with Principal, **Dale Van Keuren** (left) and Athletic Director, **Jonathan Lindh**)

Congrats to all the winners. Best of luck in 2020.

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