By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph Christian's Brooklyn Miller and Lafayette's Dayne Koch were honored as the city's Scholar Athletes of the Year for 2020 Wednesday, while St. Joseph Central cross country Coach Bob Miller was named Coach of the Year.
The 10 student-athlete and five coach nominees were honored at an in-person ceremony at the Missouri Theater Wednesday - a nice change from the virtual event last year.
"I am so happy that we got to do it in person this year," Brooklyn Miller said. "It is so special to everyone involved. I really enjoyed having the coaches there with us, because we got to sit there and congratulate them when they've helped us get to where we are. So, they need as much credit as we have."
A Nebraska track and field commit, Miller maintains a 4.14 GPA and has been a first-team All City volleyball player for four years and all-state for two. She's the 2019 Class 1 state champion in high jump and has placed at state in the javelin as well as the 4x200 and the 4x100 relay.
Her father, Dr. Brett Miller, has helped put on the award ceremony for years.
"I've been going with him for about five years now watching it all unfold," she said. "And my name getting called was just so surreal."
Koch is ranked No. 1 in his class at Lafayette with a 4.0 GPA and has been actively involved in many clubs, including FBLA, MASC, Irish Ambassadors and many more.
A basketball and baseball standout, Koch will go onto play baseball for Central Christian College in McPherson, Kansas.
"I just know it's an honor," he said on the award. "There's so many great people here. So many people who could've just as easily won the award like I did. It's just great to know I got selected. I take pride in that. It's awesome. I feel honored more than anything."
Coach Miller meanwhile has coached for nearly 20 years, and has been Central's boys and girls cross country coach for the last 11. He's led his teams to four conference championships and three district titles over the last decade.
His girls' team qualified for state in 2018, while his boys' teams have qualified for the state meet five times since 2012.
"When you put in that kind of work and that kind of time with kids over time," Miller said, "and the kids that buy into it, they sacrifice a lot. I'm really grateful for the talented athletes that I've had who buy into what we do."
St. Joseph Sports, Inc. and SJSD Scholar Athlete of the Year nominees
St. Joseph Christian
Brooklyn Miller
Landon Swavey
St. Joseph Central
Isabella Wiebelt-Smith
James Jura
Bishop LeBlond
Jeffrey Johnston
Lilyann Gardner
Benton
Alyssa White
Max Haywood
Lafayette
Dayne Koch
Lauren Adams
Coach of the Year nominees
Kevin Bristol - Lafayette boys' basketball
Adrienne Smith - Bishop LeBlond dance
Lisa Olson - St. Joseph Christian cross country, track and field
Bob Miller- St. Joseph Central cross country
Gary Belcher - Benton boys' basketball
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.