On Tuesday, May 31st, two student-athletes were recognized for their outstanding sportsmanship throughout the 2021-2022 sports seasons.

The Blue Mountain Bucks Sportsmanship Award honors student-athletes/spectators who, through their actions in the competitive arena of athletics, have demonstrated one or more of the ideals of sportsmanship, including fairness, civility, honesty, unselfishness, respect, and responsibility. According to BMU Athletic Director Todd Powers,  “…this is one of the most important individual awards an athlete can receive. It should be recognized as a distinguished accomplishment for an individual and one that really exemplifies what is required of an outstanding athlete.”

This year’s recipients were Ethan Gilding and Karli Blood. Ethan was a varsity Captain for Blue Mountain’s soccer, basketball, and baseball team. Karli was Captain of her softball team.

When voting, Coach Chris Cook stated, “I can’t think of a better person to receive this than Ethan Gilding. Ethan is one of the most dynamic, well-spirited, personable young men we have at Blue Mountain. He sparks the mood of the team and does so with others in the forefront of his mind.” Coach Scott Farquharson notes, “Karli Blood is so much fun to coach. She is talented, coachable, and respectful. She works incredibly hard, sets a great example, and has the respect of her teammates. Karli represents everything this award stands for.”

We asked both of the athletes to describe their feelings after receiving the award. Karli shared with us, “I feel very honored to have received this award. I would not be the athlete that I am today without my incredible role modeling coaches that I have had over the years.” Ethan added, “It came as quite a surprise. When they were reading the attributes I thought it was going to be Ricky Fennimore or Cameron Dennis because they were talking about sparking the team, but I am honored because this is my second year in a row receiving this award. I feel like they should have given it to someone else, but if they feel like I deserved it, then I appreciate it.”