By Michael Letendre
It’s once again time to honor our scholastic athletes from Bristol and the entire state.
The CAS-CIAC honored and celebrated 350 statewide scholar-athletes this past Sunday at the 40th annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet.
The event was held at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington.
The Scholar-Athlete Program annually recognizes two high school seniors from each member high school whose academic and athletic careers have been exemplary, whose personal standards and achievements are a model to others, and who possess high levels of integrity, self-discipline, and courage.
Bristol had six representatives at the event, representing Bristol Central, Bristol Eastern and St. Paul Catholic.
The girls honored from the Mum City were Ava Bouchard (Central), Julia Armington (Eastern) and Calista Oria (St. Paul Catholic).
The boys from Bristol that were honored at the Aqua Turf included Ryan Ring (Central), Aidan Tartarelli (Eastern) and Dylan Bird (St. Paul Catholic).
The event was the largest of the many honors programs CAS-CIAC hosts each year.
The honorees were chosen by the member schools and submitted to the CIAC.
For a remarkable 37th time in the event’s history, retired sports
broadcaster Bob Picozzi served as Master of Ceremonies.
Emeka Okafor, the NCAA National Champion from UConn and ten-year NBA professional with the Charlotte Bobcats, New Orleans Hornets, Washington Wizards and New Orleans Hornets, delivered the keynote address.
Okafor played on the men’s basketball team at UCONN from 2001-2004, majoring in Finance and graduated in three years with an outstanding GPA of 3.8.
The Huskies won their second National Title in 2004 as Okafor earned MVP honors before becoming the second pick of the 2004 NBA draft by the Bobcats.
Evan St. Amand, a member of the Hall High School Boys Golf Team, was formally honored as the 2023 Michael H. Savage Spirit of Sport Award winner.
CAS-CIAC 2023 Scholar-Athletes (from Bristol)
School Girl / Boys
Bristol Central Ava Bouchard / Ryan Ring
Bristol Eastern Julia Armington / Aidan Tartarelli
St. Paul Catholic Calista Oria / Dylan Bird
