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Superior’s student-athletes were honored at the Annual Sports Awards Banquet on May 4.
Superior High School Principal and Athletic Director William Duarte emceed the school’s Annual Sports Awards Banquet, which took place on May 4.
Duarte, along with Superior’s coaches and teachers, has helped facilitate success in the classroom and on the field for the Panthers’ student-athletes.
“It’s a dream I’ve been having for a long time,” Duarte said about the dual success of the school’s student-athletes. “It starts at the junior high and we want to build successful programs.”
“Winning isn’t everything,” he continued. “The biggest thing I can say about these kids is their hard work. The rewards for that work are coming to fruition and that’s my happiest time.”
Manny Ruiz Award winner Jose Lira (left) and Superior HS Principal William Duarte (right).
Manny Ruiz Award winner Jose Lira (left) and Superior HS Principal William Duarte (right).
Seniors Jose Lira, Phalicitee Thomas and Elias Olmos took home the top awards at the event. All three are multi-sport student-athletes.
Lira, who plans to complete his prerequisites at Central Arizona College before studying Sports Journalism at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Mass Communication and Journalism, was the winner of the Manny Ruiz Award, which is given each year to the student-athlete who displays good citizenship, excels academically, and performs well on the court or on the field.
“It means a lot to me,” Lira answered when asked what winning the award means to him. “What (Mr. Duarte) said about me in the little intro about wanting to play sports, I was hoping that’s how people (would think about me) and it feels really good for it to be a reality.”
Lira was a member of the Panthers’ football, basketball and baseball teams.
Phalicitee Thomas, a four-sport athlete, was named the Female Athlete of the Year in addition to being selected girls’ basketball MVP, winning the Leadership Award on the Basketball Spiritline, and being named the softball team’s Offensive Player of the Year. She also was a member of the volleyball team.
“It means a lot to win the award considering a lot of little girls tell me that I’m their role model and they look up to me,” said Thomas, who will attend Gateway Community College in the fall on a softball scholarship.
Thomas said her academic and athletic success go hand-in-hand.
“It definitely keeps my grades up,” she answered when asked why athletics has been important to her at Superior. “My coaches did grade checks weekly so it kept me on top of my school work.”
Olmos, a three-sport athlete and future Arizona State University enrollee, was named Male Athlete of the Year in addition to individual awards in football and baseball. He has been named to a myriad of All-Division, All-Section and All-State teams during his Superior career.
“First of all, I want to thank my teammates because without them none of this would be possible,” Olmos responded when asked about winning the award. “I’m grateful to have the talent that I do and so it means a lot to growing up in a town where sports meant a lot to me. This is the way I wanted to go out.”
Olmos was also named football MVP and earned the baseball Coaches Award at the banquet.
Just about every Superior student-athlete is a multi-sport competitor and it showed at the banquet earlier this month as several athletes won awards in multiple sports.
Congratulations to all.
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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