BEVERLY / NORTH READING – The Moynihan Lumber North Shore Student-Athlete Award, an idea conceived by Gerard Moynihan to recognize students for their academic and academic achievements, returns for its 32nd year. (Details on June’s Athletes of the Year Luncheon – Click Here)
Launched in the fall of 1991, the program will again honor a male and female student-athlete each month throughout the school year. The Moynihan Lumber North Shore Male and Female Student-Athlete of the Year will be chosen next spring and awarded a scholarship at a luncheon in June.
“We are thrilled that this program is in its fourth decade 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 37-year supporter of high school sports on the North Shore, dating back to sponsoring football broadcasts and the popular Saturday Scoreboard Show on the former WESX.
A sportswriter after he graduated from Holy Cross, Moynihan always admired the blanket coverage of scholastic sports by several daily newspapers as well as local radio and cable TV. He wondered, however, about the athletes who were 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 msonewsports.com. The monthly winners are eligible for the male and female Student-Athlete of the Year Award.
The caliber of the yearly winners serves as the best example of the merit of the program. The list includes: Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt (1992), Providence College women’s track and field head coach Catarina Rocha (2012 and 2013), Major League Baseball Senior Vice President of Minor League Operations Peter Woodfork (1995), and New York
Marathon champion and three-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan (1999 and 2000), pro hockey player Colin Blackwell 2011).
“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 means and that is reflected in their career achievements.”
The 2022-23 Moynihan Lumber North Shore Student-Athletes of the Year were Maggie Sturgis of Masconomet, who is playing field hockey at Holy Cross, and James Ayers of St. John’s Prep, a lacrosse player at Johns Hopkins University.
