The Westonka White Hawks Nordic ski team honored long-time friend and benefactor Jeff Richards at the annual banquet last week. Richards has been supporting the Minnesota Nordic ski community for many years. He hosts ski practices and races at his picturesque property in St. Bonifacius; and through his woodworking talent, Richards has donated countless hand-crafted tables, stools and cutting boards that have been auctioned at the annual Nordic Scramble to help pay for assistant coaching salaries and training trip buses.

"Jeff is an example of the generous nature and strong work ethic we also see in Nordic skiers on the high school team and throughout life," said coach Sue Harrison at the banquet. "As a rule, they love the sport and want to give back to keep it going for others."

Harrison said that she felt the team was "long overdue" in honoring Richards. She said, "It is in this spirit that we decided to recognize Jeff tonight and honor him and a senior skier every year from now on with the 'Westonka White Hawks Jeff Richards Nordic Skiing as a Way of Life Award.'"

Westonka senior captain Anna Wood received the inaugural award. Coach Harrison shared, "Anna embraces the sport, embodies Jeff's strong work ethic and generous nature to promote the Nordic ski community."

Additional honors included both team and individual academic excellence awards. Both boys and girls teams earned gold level awards for academic excellence with team GPAs exceeding 3.9. Individual All-State Academic Awards went to seniors Ingrid Wulf, Averie Zealley, Anna Wood and August Shaefer; juniors Miles Lund, Tor Erdahl and Isaac Hays; and sophomores Ava Daum, Sophia Kravchenko and Leif Hagen.

Most Valuable Skier awards went to Averie Zealley and Isaac Hays. Ingrid Wulf and Miles Lund earned Spirit awards. Most Improved skiers were Stella Miner and Leif Hagen. And Rookie of the Year was awarded to Ava Daum and August Shaefer.