A quartet of outstanding Cougar athletes have been honored with the top Senior Athlete Awards for Escalon High School, closing out stellar careers. Rylie Lattig and Owen Nash were recently presented with the Bob and Mark Loureiro Most Inspirational Senior Athlete awards, while Emily Vickers and Logan Anderson were chosen as the Lloyd C. Engel Outstanding Senior Athletes.
These are the most prestigious athlete awards presented at the school.
Most Inspirational
Rylie Lattig was involved in volleyball, soccer and tennis, excelling in all areas.
“It was fun, I did it for the experience, I feel like high school is one of your only chances to get to be with your friends and play all sports so I wanted to do that,” she said, playing volleyball and tennis all four years, playing soccer for two years. Volleyball was her favorite, enjoying success with her teammates.
“Hard work definitely pays off,” Rylie said, pointing to a pair of Section titles in volleyball and getting to individual Sections this year in tennis.
She will now focus on school, as she will study nursing at Boise State.
“Rylie has played at the varsity level three years. She has been a huge part of this team’s success,” varsity volleyball head coach Teresa Williamson said of her contributions to the volleyball program.
“She ended her volleyball career with 2,401 assists, 575 digs, 192 aces, 75 blocks,” Williamson said, adding that stats aren’t the only thing that define her game. “Rylie is a team first type of player. She is always positive to the girls on or off the court. She leads by example as a teammate and a captain. Ending her high school career receiving the Bob and Mark Loureiro Most Inspirational Female Senior Athlete is so rewarding and is so well deserved.”
Owen Nash was a two-sport athlete at Escalon High School, playing football and involved in several different events for the track and field program. He was selected a team captain in football and track, and has emerged as a natural leader through his work ethic and dedication to his sports.
The recent EHS graduate said he does focus on trying to inspire others.
“I never try to be a negative person especially because even when you’re losing you always have to have confidence that you can win,” Owen said. “I’ve never thought of myself as negative so I think it’s fitting.”
He also describes himself as hardworking, not taking many days off from practicing. He plans to attend Modesto Junior College to play football and be involved in track while studying history with the goal of becoming a history teacher.
“In the biggest games on the biggest stages, Owen made the biggest plays. In 2021 vs. Marin Catholic in the NorCal Championship game, Owen’s plays and catches were the reason we were even in that game,” said head football coach Andrew Beam. “In the 2022 section title game vs. Sonora, his leaping grab for a touchdown with 27 seconds left for the game tying touchdown, will forever give me chills, and forever just be known as our own version of the “Catch”.
Most Outstanding
A standout on the three-time Section champion varsity volleyball team, Emily Vickers was also a key part of the softball squad at Escalon.
“It was cool, it was very exciting; I feel like everyone who got an award was working so hard throughout high school,” Emily said of taking home one of the top senior honors.
It was an up and down career, with a full season as a freshman, a shutdown-shortened campaign during sophomore year for COVID, returning to play again as a junior and senior, excited for the opportunity to improve her game.
She did volleyball and softball but admitted that “nothing can beat volleyball” and she will continue to play in college, heading to Delta College in Stockton to suit up collegiately for the Mustangs. She will study health sciences with the goal of moving in to the nursing field.
“During her volleyball career, Emily has played at the varsity level all four years. She has been a huge part of this team’s success. She was Captain her Junior and Senior year,” said coach Williamson.
She ended her volleyball career with 1,213 kills, 330 aces, 101 blocks, 1008 digs. She was also a Scholar-Athlete all four years.
“Ending her high school career receiving the Lloyd C. Engel Most Outstanding Female Senior Athlete is the most rewarding award and it so well deserved,” said Williamson.
Logan Anderson was a four year, three sport athlete at Escalon High School. A team captain in football, he also has played basketball and participated in track and field, as well as playing baseball for a year.
“It was awesome, I thought this year was great as it was,” Logan said, adding that receiving the Engel award helped him keep a family tradition going, with his father and uncle among previous recipients. “It was amazing, I appreciate it.”
His favorite moment, in terms of athletics at Escalon High School, was winning a state championship in football his senior year.
“My biggest lesson is teamwork and how you practice is how you play,” he added of what he will take away from EHS.
He is headed to Merced Junior College to play football with his older brother Luke and plans to major in criminology. He also may go out for track and the dive team.
“If Logan could play four to five sports, he probably would have and he would have found success because of his unique athletic ability,” said Beam. “Logan made some of the more memorable plays in the biggest games this year, and was a tremendous role player on the basketball court, and a TVL champion in the long jump for track and field, while competing in four events. His personality is a unique one; he can drive you crazy half the time, but you need someone like Logan on your team if you want to find success.”
Beam, who has coached Logan for the last three years at the varsity football level, agreed about the family tradition, as his father was the recipient of the honor in 1996.
“I can say without a doubt that there are very few athletes that are as versatile as he is,” Beam said. “He embraces the challenges that are presented to him. Logan is a two-time State Champion, three-time Section Champion, and TVL Champion.”
