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Kaleb Hewitt, left, and Emmaline Peterson, have been selected as Athletes of the Year at Hickory High/SUBMITTED PHOTO
HICKORY – Hickory High has named a state championship female swimmer and a three-sport male athlete as winners of this year’s William Coyne Memorial Athletes of the Year.
Emmaline Peterson, a swimmer headed to the University of Georgia, won the Coyne award for female athletics while Kaleb Hewitt, who is going to Gardner-Webb University to play basketball, won the Coyne award for male athletes at HHS’ recent athletic banquet.
“It means a lot to me to be recognized with this award,” Peterson said in a news release provided by the Hickory Public Schools (HPS) on Monday. “I put in a lot of work over the years and it’s nice to be recognized as a representative for my school and the swim team.
“Coach Cathy Hitchcock was a great inspiration. She always looks for the positive and the bright side of things—even when things are not going well.
“I am very close to my swim mates—as I have basically been swimming with them my whole life.”
Said Hewitt in the same news release: “I am also thankful to be recognized by my school and it’s a great honor to be a part of this group of athletes who have been honored over the years.
“I am very appreciative to Coach Allen Wittenberg for instilling in me the desire to work hard—on the field and in the classroom. He reminded me (and others) that people will not remember how many touchdowns we made, but they will remember how we live as people and how we treat others.”
Ferner to row at UNC: Lauren Ferner, a swimmer at HHS, has announced she will participate in rowing at North Carolina.
She will row annually for two seasons at UNC—in the fall and the spring, a press release from HPS said.
Ferner was on a Red Tornadoes swim team for four years and was on HHS’ state title 200 freestyle relay team.
“My background in swimming is beneficial to rowing,” Ferner said in the news release. “There are many swimmers turned rowers on collegiate teams throughout the country…”
Ferner began rowing in September of 2016 at the Belmont Rowing Center.