Caelan Clayton, Sydney Cordeiro and Ainsley Proctor were all recognized in a very special way at the 54th annual Blue Devil senior athletic awards ceremony in the Huntington High School auditorium.
The three swimmers were all instrumental in propelling the Blue Devils to a string of successful seasons. Clayton reached the state championships last fall.
Blue Devil assistant varsity coach Meg McConnell was on hand before a crowd of 300 to present this year’s senior awards. Clayton garnered the MVP Award with Cordeiro being named Most Improved and Proctor garnering the Coaches Award.
“To say we will miss all three is an understatement,” head coach Christopher Helmke said. “These young ladies were great competitors and teammates. They have been with us for a very long time. Each of them will always be members of the Blue Devil swimming family.”
Clayton is headed to the University of Rochester where she plans to study computer science. An Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction, she was a member of five academic honor societies. She credits her success to a “strong work ethic and a great support system.” An award winning musician, the teenager was also the vice president of the English Honor Society and the tutoring coordinator of the National Honor Society.
Cordeiro intends to study oceanic engineering at Florida Institute of Technology. She cited her organizational, time management and communication skills, immersion in school activities, sleeping 7-9 hours per night and plenty of water as the keys to her success. She was a high school lab assistant and counts completing Advanced Placement Physics and AP Chemistry during her senior year as proud accomplishments. A member of the high school’s robotics team, she also took to the stage for three drama club musical productions.
Proctor will be attending Wake Forest University. She credited her “amazingly supportive teachers” for her success along with her friends that always push her to do even better. The varsity lacrosse team’s goalie, she was vice president of the National Honor Society, tutoring coordinator of the Math Honor Society and the attendance officer of the Key Club. A cheerful young woman, she was chosen as a Natural Helper to assist classmates struggling to navigate through personal challenges.