The West Virginia Sports Writers Association is at it again.
What did the statewide organization do this time? Well, it elected to bring the 66th Victory Awards Dinner back to Parkersburg and this year's event appears as if it could turn out to be a very special one.
Not only will first team all-state performers in football and boys and girls basketball be recognized, but the head coaches of every team that captured a state championship over the past 12 months will be awarded a certificate honoring that feat. As usual, several local athletes and coaches will have their names announced during the event.
As if that was not enough, the WVSWA will induct two new members to its Hall of Fame-former Martinsburg standout Vicky Bullett as well as former Parkersburg Catholic all-state performer Mary Ostrowski.
Ostrowski will also be on hand to present the girls' basketball player of the year award, which now bears her name, to Scott High School standout-and WVU recruit-Mackenzie White.
White won't be the only Mountaineer player on hand as Tavon Austin is expected to be in attendance to accept the Amateur Athlete Award while other award recipients include Cabell Midland's Jacob Burcham (Male McCoy Award), WVU's Chelsea Carrier (Female McCoy Award), George Washington's Ryan Switzer (Kennedy Award), Bridgeport's Garrett Stanley (Hunt Award), Logan Jenkins of Martinsburg (Huff Award), Dylan Cottrill of Roane County (Dutton Award) and Wheeling Park's Demetrius "Boo" Lathon (Boys Basketball Player of the Year).
Two awards are yet to be decided and if they go a certain way then there may not be enough seats at the Dils Banquet Center to hold the crowd that could possibly attend.
Those awards-High School and College Coaches of the Year-will be voted on by the membership over the next week and Parkersburg South's Paul Jackson and WVU's Dana Holgorsen should be strong contenders for the honors.
Jackson, whose Patriots captured their fourth straight Class AAA wrestling title in February, has nine championships to his credit-more than any other coach in Class AAA history-and has built a program that is the envy of every coach in the Mountain State.
Holgorsen not only led the Mountaineers to the Big East title in his first season at the helm of the old gold and blue, but took WVU to the Discover Orange Bowl and simply destroyed a favored Clemson squad by a 70-33 score.
As always, there are several other coaches that will be in the running for both awards, but it would be hard to imagine any coach accomplishing more than those two have done this season.
Tickets for the event, which is slated to begin at 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 29, are available at The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. Interested parties can contact me via my email account (jbutta@newsandsentinel.com) or by phone at 1-800-642-1997 (ext. 319).
Cost of the tickets is $20 and only a limited number remain.
