The student-athlete winners of the Winfield Awards were announced last month with adjustments made due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Through an initiative identified as 20 FOR 2020, instead of naming a top male and female award winner from among 10 finalists (five girls, five boys), the Winfield Committee will honor 20 graduating seniors from St. Paul who will receive financial grants that will assist them in furthering their education.
Currently in its 44th year, the award—named in honor of former St. Paul Central and University of Minnesota student-athlete and Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member David M. Winfield—acknowledges the scholastic and athletic accomplishments of graduating high school athletes.
Past winners were honored at a banquet on a yearly basis, but the coronavirus pandemic led to this year’s cancellation.
The awardees are: Anatalia Radoc and Mickies Kiros, Central High School; Shar Too and Ktru Moo, Como Park High School; Sydney Jackson and Curtis Jones, Cretin-Derham Hall High School; Amanye Reynolds and Destiny Azonwu, Harding High School; Mya Bishop and Kojo Frimpong, Highland Park High School; Shakira Willis and Mu Thoo, Humboldt High School; Nevaeh Sangster Lamb and Jeremiah Knox, Johnson High School; Raquel Laforce and Andrew Brownell, St. Agnes High School; Arie Walker and Noah Rice, St. Paul Academy; BeBe Say and Djiraj Basnet, Washington Technology Magnet School.
Winfield is identified by many as the top all-around athlete to ever come out of Minnesota. After graduating from St. Paul Central in 1969, he starred in baseball and basketball at the University of Minnesota and, in 1973, was drafted professionally by four teams in three sports (baseball, basketball and football).
Choosing baseball after the San Diego Padres drafted him with the fourth overall pick, Winfield enjoyed a 22-year Hall of Fame career, winning a World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992.
Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald is a contributing columnist at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.