JERAD GARDNER (St. Paul Central) and MICHAELA BOLDEN (St. Paul Central) were recently named winners of the 36th Annual Winfield Awards at the banquet held Sunday, June 3 at the Crown Plaza St. Paul-Riverfront Hotel in St. Paul.
The awards, established in 1977 by Major League Baseball Hall of Famer DAVE WINFIELD (a 1969 St. Paul Central graduate), recognizes outstanding student athletes of color in St. Paul every spring.
Gardner and Bolden, who like Winfield displayed their academic and athletic skills at St. Paul Central, were chosen from among 10 finalists for the award.
Gardner, who helped the football team capture its fourth consecutive St. Paul City Conference title, plans on attending Minnesota State University-Moorhead. Bolden, who starred in volleyball and track, will attend St. Olaf College next fall.
KFAN Radio personality HENRY LAKE emceed the event, while Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder Sports Columnist LARRY FITZGERALD provided words of wisdom to the graduates as the guest speaker.
The male finalists included KENDRICK BREWSTER (Cretin-Derham Hall, University of St. Thomas), MITCHELL ROSENBLOOM (St. Paul Johnson, University of Sioux Falls), CORTEZ TILLMAN (Cretin-Derham Hall, University of St. Thomas), and KENG XIONG (St. Paul Johnson, University of Minnesota).
LAURA CEFALU (St. Paul Central, Gustavus Aldophus), TIANA DANIELS (St. Paul Johnson, University of St. Thomas), SYMONE FOSTER (St. Paul Central, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), and ANNA OLSON (St. Paul Academy, University of St. Thomas) were the female finalists.
WILLIE ROLLER III (Cretin-Derham Hall, Alabama State University), last year’s male Winfield Awards winner, presented the awards.
Mitchell Palmer McDonald welcomes reader responses to mmcdonald@spokesman-recorder.com.
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