The city honored top Brooklyn high-school athletes during its annual Wingate Awards at the Brooklyn Marriott on June 17. The event honors the top seniors in each sport the league offers and gives the city’s best athletes one final opportunity to put a metaphorical cherry on their respective careers.
The Public Schools Athletic League recognized 15 Brooklyn athletes.
“I was pretty excited,” said Medgar Evers athlete Shayla Broughton, who was honored for both indoor and outdoor track. “I mean, it’s a really big deal. I was just excited that they had decided to honor me like that.”
Shamorie Ponds was perhaps the most recognizable name — he led Thomas Jefferson Campus to its first basketball championship since 1954 earlier this year.
Ponds averaged 28.46 points, 6.69 rebounds and 5.62 assists in 13 regular-season games, and he didn’t miss a beat once playoffs began either, averaging 26.14 per game and improving his free-throw game — Ponds shot 78.30 percent from the charity stripe during the regular season and 84.62 percent in the postseason.
“He’s left a legacy, and he’s really had a great career,” Jefferson coach Lawrence “Bud” Pollard said. “He’s won his whole career. You couldn’t write a better story for him.”
Ponds, however, was unable to attend the event. The St. John’s commit had been at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, earlier in the week, working out with the USA Basketball Men’s U-18 National Team and was still traveling when the league doled out the awards. Ponds didn’t make the team’s final cut, but as far as his coach was concerned, even being invited was a big-time accomplishment.
“I think he’s established himself as one of the elite players and one of the top guards in the country,” Pollard said. “He’s matched or even out-played those guys. He’s showed that he belongs there — it’s no accident.”
Many athletes at the event worked their entire high-school careers to win a Wingate Award.
Marcus Chavez didn’t lead Grand Street Campus to a championship this spring, but he considered a Wingate Award a fair replacement. The catcher, who hit a team-leading .560 this season, will head to the University of Michigan next year on a full athletic scholarship. He’s anxious to use this latest honor as a building block both on and off the field, determined to make his presence known at the next level as soon as possible.
“Guys at my school have won this award before. BJ Lopez won this award, and he’s playing pro ball now,” Chavez said. “It’s all meant a lot to me. Playing baseball made me grow as a person, it made me mature a lot.”
Their high-school careers may be over, but the best is yet to come for the Brooklyn athletes. They’ve already conquered New York City, and now the stars are ready to take the college world by storm.
“I definitely want to succeed as much as I can,” Broughton said. “My goal is to get to the Olympics after college, so I’m looking forward to whatever comes next.”
