Glasgow High School senior Addison Reynolds and Logan County senior Riley Charles Wharton earned top honors as Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners for their academic, athletic and community service accomplishments Thursday during the inaugural Kentucky Super Preps awards program at the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center.

Recently retired Edmonson County girls’ basketball coach Kevin Jackson won the Coach of the Year honors, and Glasgow’s Craig Cassady was named the Athletic Director of the Year during the ceremony attended by more than 1,000 student-athletes, coaches, school administrators, family members and friends.

The Kentucky Super Preps, presented by the Bowling Green Daily News in partnership with Med Center Health, aimed to recognized the best and brightest varsity student-athletes from the 13 schools in the Barren River region.

“Very strong turnout and we were honored to have the opportunity to spend the evening with the student-athletes, the parents, the coaches and the school administrators,” said event organizer Larry Jobe, the Bowling Green Daily News director of new business development. “It couldn’t have gone any better.

“… Hopefully next year it will be even bigger than it was this year.”

Western Kentucky lead sports doctor Chaitu Malempati, a former college tennis player at the University of Iowa, served as a guest speaker and discussed how his experience competing in athletics helped transition into his chosen career field. A playing injury to his shoulder led Malempati to a visit with an orthopaedic surgeon, and he left that encounter determined to make sports medicine his profession.

“To this day I truly enjoy what I do and I enjoy every aspect of my job,” Malempati said. “I have a deep passion for sports medicine and dealing with and treating athletes. I love all the surgical, non-surgical, teamwork and relationship aspects of the job.”

Keynote speaker Dallas Robinson, an Oldham County native who became Kentucky’s only Winter Olympian as a bobsledder at the 2014 Sochi Games, shared how he maximized his own abilities through determination and hard work.

The Eastern Kentucky graduate, who was serving in the military when he competed as an Olympian, admitted he wasn’t the best athlete or strongest student by nature but welcomed the challenges sports and academics presented to him.

“Adversity is indeed your friend,” Robinson told the audience. “Adversity by definition is difficulty, it’s an obstacle, it’s a barrier. That is to your benefit. It builds strength. Anyone that’s ever trained understands that when it gets hard, that’s when you build strength.”

Both Reynolds and Wharton perfectly fit the Super Preps intention to recognize high achievements in sports, the classroom and in the community, and each earned a $500 scholarship at the ceremony for their accomplishments.

Reynolds, who carries a 4.0 grade-point average at Glasgow, participated in varsity swimming for five years and served as team captain the past season. A state qualifier and top-16 region finalist the past four years, Reynolds has been a leader for the Lady Scotties in the pool and an outstanding student at the school. An honor roll mainstay for every semester at Glasgow, Reynolds plans to study industrial design or engineering at Georgia Tech.

Wharton, a team captain for the last three seasons for Logan County’s boys’ swim team, holds all of the Cougars’ top individual record times. A runner-up in the 100-yard breaststroke at regionals and a top-16 finisher in the state meet, Wharton received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. An Eagle Scout at age 14 and a member of the JROTC for four years, Wharton has been equally active in various community service projects.

Jackson led the Lady Cats to a school-record 29 wins this past season and the school’s first district title in 20 years. Edmonson County also won its first-ever All ‘A’ Region title and advanced to the semifinals of the All ‘A’ State Tournament.

Cassady, Glasgow’s athletic director since 2012, has overseen a program that that has produced numerous district, regional and state championships across nearly every varsity athletic program at the school.

Other Specialty Awards winners included:

Heart & Desire

Sarah Hudson, Warren East

Extra Mile

Hallie Anna Lindsey, Franklin-Simpson

Comeback Player of the Year

Samantha Reed, Warren East

Sportsmanship

Faith Martin, South Warren

Community Excellence

Chloe Madison, Barren County

Academic Achievement

Amrit Avula, Bowling Green

Individual sports winners

Volleyball

McKayla Lindsey, Edmonson County

Boys’ Bowling

Patrick Handley, Greenwood

Girls’ Bowling

Samantha Teasley, Warren Central

Girls’ Archery

Emma Moody, Bowling Green

Boys’ Archery

Tyler Hudson, South Warren

Girls’ Soccer

Kelsey Rittenberry, Franklin-Simpson

Boys’ Soccer

Adam Garrett, Glasgow

Boys’ Tennis

Scott Wilson Randolph, Franklin-Simpson

Girls’ Tennis

Sydney Cassady, South Warren

Baseball

Austin Rayno, Logan County

Softball

Olivia Jones, Butler County

Boys’ Cross Country

Carter Chavira, South Warren

Girls’ Cross Country

Kirsten Thomerson, Barren County

Girls’ Track and Field

Molly Elder, South Warren

Boys’ Track and Field

Houston Hampton, Butler County

Cheerleading

Katie Bradley, Bowling Green

Dance

Ariell Sales, South Warren

Boys’ Golf

Kyle Torrence, Warren Central

Girls’ Golf

Maiah Cisco, Greenwood

Bass Fishing

Dalton Harris, Franklin-Simpson

Girls’ Swimming

Katherine Brooks, Logan County

Boys’ Swimming

Ben Slack, Russellville

Boys’ Basketball

Jacob Naylor, Russellville

Girls’ Basketball

Caitlin Simon, Edmonson County

Football

Nash Hightower, Bowling Green{&end}