TORRINGTON – On Tuesday, local volleyball athletes were recognized at the November Goshen County School Board Meeting for receiving a WHSAA Good Sportsmanship Award.

The awards were presented based on recommendations from the match officials throughout the season. Athletes from Torrington, Lingle-Fort Laramie and Southeast high schools showed exemplary conduct during the season, according to the nominations.

Wyoming High School Activities Association focuses on four attributes: Respect, Integrity, Dedication and Encouragement, or The RIDE, are the hallmarks of the sportsmanship awards presented.

Nakalyn Garner, Brooklyn Tucker, Logan Murphy, and Latosha Wiford were all athletes recognized for good sportsmanship from Torrington High School. Garner received her award for the match versus Rawlins on Saturday, Oct. 21. Tucker received hers during the earlier part of the season, in the game against Newcastle on Friday, Sept. 22.

“Brooklyn was cheerful to her teammates and offered encouragement to her teammates, especially when they made mistakes,” the officiating crew said. “She also showed respect to the opponents as well as saying ‘thank you’ when the other team rolled stray balls to them. She accepted the judgement calls of the officials without argument.”

Murphy also showed exemplary conduct during the game against Douglas on Tuesday, Sept. 26.

As stated by the officials: “The whole team had good sportsmanship throughout the match, but #13 [Murphy] stood out the most with her attitude and her encouragement to her teammates. She would slap hands at the end of a play, smile, and tell them good job.”

Wiford also received a Good Sportsmanship nomination for her conduct during the Lady Blazers’ match against Buffalo on Friday, Sept. 29. 

“No. 4 [Wiford] – She was always slapping hands with her teammates and encouraging them whether they had a great play or made an error,” the official commented. “She had a great attitude and played hard.”

From Southeast High School, Kassidy McClun and Whitney Foos were recipients of Good Sportsmanship awards during the latter season of their volleyball careers. Recognized for exemplary conduct against the Glenrock match on Saturday, Oct. 14, the officials congratulated McClun for joining the RIDE: “This was a great match to officiate; it was played hard and was fast paced with great hits and digs. The entire volleyball team had such great sportsmanship, but the one that stood out the most was #22 [Kassidy McClun]. She would slap hands and congratulate whomever had the hit or dig. Or if a ball was missed, she still slapped hands and said ‘we’ will get the next one; no one was ever singled out for making a mistake. She didn’t question the calls; she accepted the judgement of the officials without judgement.”

Foos received a sportsmanship award during the Pine Bluffs match, held on Friday, Oct. 13. As stated by the officials: “Whitney played hard and was encouraging to her teammates by helping them up and slapping hands at the end of each play. She didn’t get discouraged when things didn’t go right, she kept working had, smiling, and encouraging.”

From Lingle-Ft. Laramie High School, Amanda Riley was recognized for exemplary conduct during the game against Niobrara County (Lusk) on Saturday, Oct. 21. “She was always slapping hands with her teammates, and encouraging them whether they had a great play or made an error. She had a good attitude and played hard,” the officials said.