Braxton Cordova plays during a Wolves soccer game earlier this season. Cordova was recently honored as one of the recipients of the Southwest 3A/4A Senior Student Athlete of the Year award.
Sweetwater County School District No. 2 is finding a lot of reasons to celebrate excellence within the district as the final days of the school year approach.
During the meeting Tuesday evening, Braxton Cordova was honored for being one of three recipients of the Southwest 3A/4A Senior Student Athlete of the Year award. The nominees are selected from throughout 3A and 4A schools in southwestern Wyoming. Braxton's selection was initially announced after a selection meeting April 18 in Rock Springs. The honorees are selected through a vote of head coaches and athletic directors in the region and are nominated based on their athletic and academic achievements, as well as the leadership they've shown at their school and community. Cordova is a three-time state diving champion, and only the fourth diver in 3A history to achieve the feat. Cordova has seen success in other sports as well, which includes a 2020 4A state tennis doubles championship with teammate Zach Friel and all-conference honors in soccer.
"The neat thing about Braxton winning this ... it was Braxton and all these football players and basketball players," Athletics Director Tony Beardsley said.
Beardsley said football and basketball coaches from throughout the southwest region voted for Cordova during the final selection for the award.
Josh Wisniewski, the Wolves' head wrestling coach, also received recognition from the board for being named the 3A Wrestling Coach of the year. Wisniewski has been the head wrestling coach since 2017 and has led a consistently strong and competitive program for Green River. Earlier this year, the Wolves earned a state title in wrestling.
"He garners a lot of respect from the other wrestling coaches in Wyoming for his ethical way of coaching," Athletics Director Tony Beardsley said. "It's not easy to be the wrestling coach at Green River High School because our community, the history of our program and our expectations are way up here."
The SkillsUSA group from Green River High School was also honored by the district board members. The group received eight medals from the competition that took place two weeks ago, which is the most medals Green River students have received at the competition. The medals include first, second and third-place finishes in automotive refinishing.
GRHS's FFA Chapter received several accolades during the state convention last month. Liz Thoman, the chapter's advisor, said the chapter was named Chapter of the Year, which she said is impressive because the GRHS chapter is only seven years old and is one of 60 chapters throughout the state. Thoman said the group performed well throughout the convention, which includes Triston Drozd earning a championship in extemporaneous speaking, Zeke Allison being the high person in electrical systems, and a gold-emblem agri-science fair project from Lindsey Meltzer and Tessa Robinson. The chapter was the fifth high chapter in the leadership event sweepstakes.
Musicians at GRHS also excelled in their studies. Quinn Kalinski, the GRHS band instructor, said the district music assessment resulted in superior and excellent ratings for the three choir groups at the high school and the middle school choir received superior ratings at Lagoon. For band, Kalinski said bands walked away with all superior ratings for the third year in a row.
"These kids are incredibly talented, as you know," he said.
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