Whittell High School was recently given the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association’s Award of Excellence for the 2004-05 school year, the first time in five years the Zephyr Cove school has been recognized for the presitigious honor.

The Warriors earned 2,034 points to take first-place honors among 2A schools. The Meadows High School from Las Vegas finished second (1,997 points) and was followed by White Pine (1,976), Lincoln County (1,830) and Lovelock (1,815).

“It’s a great honor for your kids to get recognized for not only what they do athletically but also in their academics,” said first-year Whittell athletic director Joey Davis. “I am very proud and it’s a great thing for this to happen during my first year.

“The principal should be proud. The vice principal should be proud. Anybody associated with Whittell should be proud about this.”

The NIAA first gave out the award in 2001 and it’s the first time Whittell has finished first in the voting. Schools earn points throughout the year based on its varsity teams’ performances in academics, athletics and the Citizenship Through Sports Program.

“We are very excited about this awards program because it represents all that is good about the high school experience,” said NIAA Executive Director Dr. Jerry Hughes. “We feel this program is one of our top awards because it takes into account all the key ingredients of participation in high school activities.

Several Vikings earn all-region honors

While its track and field team may have been small compared with other 4A programs, South Tahoe was well-represented on the Northern 4A all-region teams that were announced last month.

Senior Corey Vermillion headlined a list of five Vikings by being named to the first-team in two events. Vermillion was the top hurdler in the region, finishing with the best times in both the 110-meter hurdles (14.97 seconds) and the 300-meter hurdles (39.48).

Vermillion, who finished third at state in the 300 hurdles, was also a second-team all-state selection.

Senior Matt Bobman was a first-team all-region pick in shot put (51 feet, 7 3/4 inches) and freshman Kate Lambdin made the first-team in the 3,200-meter run (11 minutes, 50.59 seconds).

Senior sprinter Mikey Van Gorden was a second-team all-region pick in the 100-meter dash (11.23 seconds) and sophomore Kelsey McClurg made the second-team in the 1,600 (5:27.57).

All-region and all-state teams in track were determined by results at the regional and state meets, respectively.

In golf, senior Alex Yure was a second-team Northern 4A selection. Yure fell two strokes shy of qualifying for the state tournament. In baseball, Nick Heng and Stephen Yarrow both were Sierra Division honorable mention selections.

Douglas girls’ soccer coach resigns

Douglas High girls’ soccer coach Fred Schmidt has resigned after 11 seasons, the Nevada Appeal reported in Wednesday’s edition. He led the Tigers to two zone championships and regional semifinalist appearances in all but one of those seasons.

Schmidt compiled a 152-32-23 overall record during his career. He’s won more games than any other girls’ soccer coach in state history, according to the NIAA record book. Schmidt’s teams won zone titles in 2000 and 2002 and had three runner-up finishes, including in 1996, when it lost to South Tahoe by one goal.