ELEVEN MULTI-SPORT STUDENT-ATHELTES HONORED BY TOP DRAWER PROGRAM (INCLUDES LINK TO VIDEO) (2022-07-23)

Valley Sports Report
More than 60 student-athletes were recently honored in the 17th annual Top Drawer team.

Student-athletes from school districts in the region are eligible: Watkins Glen, Odessa-Montour, Trumansburg, Spencer-VanEtten, South Seneca, Elmira Notre Dame, Horseheads, Elmira, Thomas A. Edison, Twin Tiers Christian Academy, Corning, Waverly, Tioga, Newark Valley, Canton, Troy, Campbell-Savona, Addison, Haverling, and Newfield.

(You can watch the unveiling of the team on WENY, by clicking here.)

The Valley honorees include:
•  ATHENS: Caydence Macik — soccer, basketball, and softball.

•  SAYRE:  Brayden Horton — baseball and football.

•  TIOGA:  Julia Bellis — volleyball, basketball, and softball;
Gavin Godfrey — football, basketball, and baseball;
Mariah Nichols — volleyball, basketball, and track & field;
Josh Snell — football, wrestling, and track & field.

•  WAVERLY: Ty Beeman — football, wrestling, and baseball;
Lourden Benjamin — swimming, basketball, and softball;
Olivia Nittinger — cross country, basketball, and track & field;
Kennedy Westbrook — soccer, basketball, and track & field;
Kaden Wheeler — football, swimming and track & field.

The Top Drawer honorees from those schools were selected by a committee and through consultation with administrators, teachers and coaches.

Committee members, in considering potential honorees, took into account academic accomplishments, achievements on the playing fields, and the ability of the students to engage the world through civic endeavors or to leave behind them positive consequences from their positive actions.

The Top Drawer was born in the autumn of 2005 during a brainstorming session held by Odessa File publisher Charlie Haeffner and Watkins Glen High School Athletic Director Craig Cheplick. The two men decided that the usual All-Twin Tiers teams, which focused on one sport and one season, could be improved upon by establishing an honors team that included all sports and the entire school year, taking into account academics and citizenship, as well.

The Top Drawer program is now run by WENY.