Our male athlete of the month is Junior hockey player Aaron Ortiz. The hockey season now over with the Kadets being denied of a playoff spot in this 2016-2017 season. Aaron says, ” I’m pretty upset that we didn’t make it to playoffs but I’m looking forward to next year and being a leader on the team.” Aaron had nine goals this season which helped lead the Kadets to several win with a record of 5-9 in league and 7-12 overall.  Air Academy’s most dominant win this year was beating Chatfield 3-0. When asked what he recalls from the game, Aaron stated, “That game we really played well and our coach was on top of it that night, and that helped us come together as a team and keep Chatfield on their heels the entire game, which led us to victory.” Aaron is a stand out player and we will be glad to have him supporting AAHS next season.

Our female Athlete of the Month is Junior basketball player Mary Parchinski. Mary has been a key player for the Kadets all season and has stepped up her game even more as playoffs approach. Throughout the year, Mary (#21) has helped the lady Kadets to a 19-4 overall record, with an impressive 12-2 in league play. Mary is one the starters and contributes a lot to the team. She feels that one of the main duties as a starter is “to be prepared to play your role for the team and understand that your role may change.” Averaging around 7.9 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, as well as 2 steals per game, one can say that Mary is a well-rounded player and a great addition to the team. Since she is only a junior, she is looking for to what the end of the season may hold as well as what treasures lie ahead in her senior year. As basketball comes to an end and soccer begins, Mary is looking forward to “being able to play with my teammates from last season and to hopefully make it far into the postseason.”