Bourbon High School held a banquet June 10 at the Bourbon Area Community Center, honoring its student-athletes from the past school year.

BHS principal Cassandra Haar welcomed the crowd of about 200 and thanked the families of the student-athletes for being “an outstanding support system” throughout the year of Bourbon athletics. Bourbon volleyball, basketball and softball player Ella Biles then led a dinner prayer before Haar invited the attendees to enjoy dinner, drinks and desserts provided by Ministry Alliance, Planet Sub, Bouse Bakery and the Bourbon Athletic Booster Club.

Each coach then spoke about their team and gave out awards ranging from best offensive player to most improved.

Bourbon Cheerleading coach Lorie Payne began the coaches’ portion by announcing that this past season would be her last as head cheerleading coach. Dani Ray will take over next year.

After receiving an ovation from the audience, Payne gushed over her last group of outgoing seniors saying, “It makes me proud to see these girls emerge as leaders.”

Nevaeh Mansker was given the Lifesaver Award for, “Keeping me intact and in check,” Payne joked. Cheer captain Skye Johnson was then awarded the Cheer MVP and fellow captain Addie Studney received the Outstanding Leadership Award.

Volleyball coach Kelli Bailey spoke about her team’s 15-win season before presenting the team awards. She highlighted the team’s win over Belle in Districts after losing to them the first three times they played each other as an exemplary moment in the season.

Bailey named Senior Kaylee Enke as the Offensive Player of the Year and gushed, “Enke was a force and the reason we had such a successful season. She also played with a torn meniscus for the last month of the season which shows her incredible determination.” 

Sophomore Lauryn Hercules was awarded defensive player of the year after having 193 digs this past season.

Senior Kaitlyn King was named best all-around player after accumulating 122 aces and 198 digs in her final go around.

Devon Payne, Bourbon’s athletic and activities director and head coach of the cross-country, track and girl’s basketball teams spoke about each of his teams and handed out awards.

For the cross-country team, freshman Drawe Froning won the Coach’s Award and sophomore Paul Studdard was named Most Improved. Outgoing senior Brett Payne was also highlighted for numerous All-Conference and All-District accomplishments. Payne will continue his academic and cross-country career at Mineral Area College under head coach Steve Davis.

Payne then moved onto the track team, where Froning and sophomore Reese Bell were named the most improved male and female athletes. Sophomores Dustin Brown and Hayden Terry won the male and female throwers of the year and fellow sophomore Jaelynne Rohrer received the Coach’s Award.

Payne finished his time at the podium speaking about the girl’s basketball team. He glowingly spoke about his team’s improvement throughout the season.

“The improvement that these girls made is something to be very proud of.”

According to Payne, the Lady Warhawks’ 14 wins this past season was the most in the program since the 2004-05 season.

Sophomore Kinzii Withorn was named offensive player of the year, Kaitlyn King earned defensive player of the year and sophomore Kinzey Waldron won the Coach’s Award.

Head coach of the boys’ basketball team and baseball team, Danny Payne followed and gave his thoughts on his teams from the past season. Payne began by praising his basketball team, who endured a tough one-win season.

“What they went through physically and mentally was hard,” said Payne. “But it says a lot about the group that they compete hard and represent the school the right way.”

Sophomore Dawson King was named the leading scorer after averaging nearly 12 points per game. After being in the top-three on the team in deflections, steals and rebounds, sophomore Garrett Wallis won the Most Improved Award.

Payne moved onto speaking about his baseball team, and made sure to honor his assistant coach, Doug King.

“I couldn’t do my job without coach King,” Payne said. “He keeps me happy when things get tough and just the amount of work he does behind the scenes here is unreal.”

Payne then highlighted his two outgoing seniors, Ian Mueller and Chase Perschbacher, for their contributions to the program. Mueller was named All-Conference in his junior and senior seasons and pitched a perfect game his junior year, which Payne dubbed, “An incredible feat.”

According to Payne, Perschbacher played all nine positions on the field during his time as a Warhawk, “Which isn’t easy to do,” he added.

Sophomore Emmett Jones won the Highest Batting Average Award, Mueller won the Pitching Award and Dawson King was named Most Improved.

Bourbon golf coach Marcus Bailey followed, and presented the awards for the Warhawks’ first ever golf team. Bailey thanked the school board and the community for their support throughout its inaugural season.

“We faced some challenges as a first-year program, but were able to overcome that due to our athletes and the support from the parents and the community,” Bailey said.

Trevor Robertson was given the Rookie of the Year Award, Dawson King won the Most Improved Swing and Emmett Jones was named Club Champion as Bourbon’s top golfer and lone All-Conference Selection.

Head softball coach Randy Payne capped the coach’s speeches by applauding his team after its program-record, 17-win season. The Lady Warhawks also reached the district finals for the first time in school history.

The Lady Warhawks lost their first two games of the season before going on an eight game winning streak. When reflecting on what changed, Payne claimed, “Once we accepted accountability, it was fun to watch”

Payne then credited assistant coach Lindsay Gobin for her help behind the scenes. “She does all the administrative work that nobody sees but is vital to our program,” he said.

Junior Hailie Kahmke received the Hustle Award. “I can’t say enough about her hustle and sacrifice for this team,” Payne said,

Hercules was named Offensive Player of the Year, outgoing senior Annalise Gobin won Pitcher of the Year and freshman Brynn Miller was named Most Improved.

About Hercules, Payne exclaimed, “Our team feeds off of her,” and about Miller, Payne added, “It blew my mind how much she improved this season.”

Gobin struck out 165 batters in her final campaign and leaves campus with a school record 404 strikeouts in her career. She will continue her academic and softball career at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo.

Although she technically didn’t receive a team award, sophomore Kinzey Waldron was recognized for being the first Bourbon softball player ever to be named First Team All-State.

The final awards of the night were given to Bourbon’s male and female Scholarship Athletes of the Year, male and female Sportsmanship Awards and male and female Athletes of the Year.

Kaitlyn King won the female scholarship award and the female sportsmanship award, Brett Payne earned the male scholarship award, Garrett Wallis received the male sportsmanship award, Dawson King was named Male Athlete of the Year and Gobin and Waldron earned Co-Female Athlete of the Year.

Haar concluded the event by thanking the athletes and their families for their tireless efforts throughout the year and let out a “Go Warhawks” to the delight of the crowd.