Rockbridge County High School and Parry McCluer High School last month named four seniors who just graduated as male and female athletes of the year.
For RC, state champion swimmer Spencer Pfaff was named male athlete of the year, while all-state cheerleader and all-region girls lacrosse player Emily Humphreys was selected female athlete of the year. PM named Braedyn Houck, all-region competition cheerleader last fall. She helped the Wildcats placed third in the Valley District competition before winning their first-ever Region 3C competition and advancing to the state competition for the first time in 25 years. The Wildcats placed eighth at the state competition. After the Region 3C competition, Humphreys was selected as the Region 3C performer of the year.
For the RC girls lacrosse team, Humphreys is a defender who was named to the all-region first team. She helped the Wildcats win their fifth consecutive Region 4D title when they defeated Blacksburg 20-7 on Monday of last week in Lexington. It was the 12th consecutive win for the Wildcats, who improved to 13-2. For PM, Houck was a guard for the boys basketball team and was the Blues’ secondleading scorer this past winter, averaging 12.7 points per game and shooting 34.2 percent (51-of-149) from 3-point range. In the Region 1C tournament, they were runners-up to George Wythe, which went on to win the Class 1 state title. PM ended its season with an 84-60 loss to Patrick Henry-Glade Springs in the Class 1 state quarterfinals.
For PM’s baseball team, Houck was a strong pitcher and hitter. He was named Pioneer District player of the year and was selected to the all-district first team last week. With a young team, the Blues went her high school career, King won six regional titles.
This spring, King was the No. 1 singles player for the girls tennis team. She won the Pioneer District singles title before falling to the Region 1C champion, Fort Chiswell’s Taylor Shrewsbury, in the Region 1C quarterfinals on Monday of last week. King helped the Blues go 7-4 overall and 3-1 in the Pioneer District, defeating Narrows for the district title. The Blues ended the team portion of their season with a 5-3 home loss to Bland County in the Region 1C quarterfinals.
King will continue her academic and swimming career at Division III school Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista.
basketball and all-district baseball player, as male athlete of the year, while the Blues selected Olive King, all-state swimmer and Pioneer District girls tennis singles champion, as female athlete of the year.
Pfaff won Class 3 state titles in the boys’ 50-yard and 100yard freestyle races, breaking a state meet record in the 50yard freestyle, which he won the state title in as a junior also. He helped the RC boys place sixth of 33 teams at the state meet. This spring, Pfaff, RC’s valedictorian, signed a letter of intent to continue his academic and swimming career at Division III school Grinnell College in Iowa.
Humphreys was an all-district, all-region and all-state 5-15 overall and 3-6 in the Pioneer District. As the fifth seed in the district tournament, the Blues upset fourthseeded Eastern Montgomery 11-9 in the quarterfinals before falling 8-1 in the semifinals at top-seeded Narrows, which went on to win the district title. The Blues then lost 6-5 in the third-place game at third-seeded Bath County. PM ended the season with a 14-0 road loss to Auburn in the Region 1C tournament.
As PM’s lone swimmer, King won Region 1C and 2C titles in the 200-yard and 500yard freestyle races. At the state meet, she placed second in the 200-yard freestyle and third in the 500-yard freestyle, earning medals in both races by placing in the top six. During
