An idea conceived by Gerard Moynihan to recognize students for their academic and athletic achievements is celebrating a milestone this year, as the Moynihan Lumber North Shore Student-Athlete Award Program turns 30.
Launched in the fall of 1991, the program is going strong and will again honor a male and female winner each month throughout the school year. From the group of monthly winners, the Moynihan Lumber North Shore Student-Athletes of the Year will be chosen next spring.
“We are proud that this program has endured for three decades and that we have been able to honor hundreds of deserving student-athletes who excel in the classroom and the athletic arena,” Moynihan said.
Moynihan Lumber has been a 35-year supporter of high school sports on the North Shore, all the way back to sponsoring football broadcasts and the popular Saturday Scoreboard Show on WESX Radio.
A former sportswriter, Moynihan always appreciated the blanket coverage of scholastic sports by several daily newspapers as well as WESX. He couldn’t help but wonder, however, about the players who are also stars in the classroom.
Moynihan reached out to a few members of the local media and asked if they would be willing to help him create a vehicle to honor student-athletes, resulting in the Moynihan Lumber North Shore Student-Athlete of the Month program. The Merrimack Valley Student-Athlete Award program started in 2002.
Coaches and athletic directors are encouraged to nominate student-athletes monthly. One male and one female winner are selected by a group of local media members representing the Salem News, (Lynn) Daily Item, Gloucester Times, Newburyport Daily News and msonewsportsonline.com.
The monthly winners are eligible for the male and female Student-Athlete of the Year Award, which comes with a scholarship from Moynihan Lumber.
The caliber of the yearly winners serves as the best example of the merit of the program. The list includes: Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt (Peabody, 1992), former MassGolf Communications Director Becky Blaeser (Masconomet, 1994), Major League Baseball Senior Vice President of Minor League Operations Peter Woodfork (Swampscott, 1995), New York Marathon champion and three-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan (Marblehead, 1999 and 2000), former major leaguer Matt Antonelli (St. John’s Prep, 2003), pro hockey player Colin Blackwell (St. John’s Prep, 2011), and Providence College cross country All-America Catarina Rocha (Peabody, 2012 and 2013).
“We take tremendous pride in the accomplishments of our honorees,” Moynihan said. “It is a wonderful group of young men and women who exemplify what being a true student-athlete is all about.”
The 2020-21 Moynihan Lumber North Shore Student-Athletes of the Year were Lily Athanas of Manchester-Essex and Kyle Odoy of Triton. Athanas is attending Georgetown University while Odoy is at the United States Naval Academy.
