It’s a honor for a school to have one athlete named Player of the Year, much less two.

Yet that’s what happened at individual voting sessions among the Southwestern League’s baseball and girls soccer coaches when it came to selecting their respective 2008 season best athletes.

Grand Junction catcher Ross Koepsell was honored as the SWL’s baseball Player of the Year. Ashley Mumby of the Tigers girls soccer team along with Durango junior Katerina Garcia were chosen as the league’s Co-Players of the Year.

Mumby was Grand Junction’s top scorer in the recently completed girls soccer season. The senior forward had 10 goals and three assists on the year. She and teammate Stephanie Drake were both first-team picks along with Fruita Monument defender Kelly Kehoe and Central senior Kaselyn Butters.

Eight additional players were selected to the second team. That list includes Sarah Thomas, Ashley Paul, Ari Herrera and Haleigh Higgins of Central; Danielle Erickson and Jenna Short from Grand Junction; and Fruita Monument’s Julie Faber and Kenyon Howard.

Durango skipper Aaron Eldridge was named as the girls soccer Coach of the Year.
In baseball, Grand Junction’s Kyle Rush received similar honors. In 2008, Rush piloted the Tigers to their fourth straight league pennant, finishing with a 20-5 win-loss record along with an appearance in the Class 5A state baseball tournament.

Koepsell also earned a spot on the first team along with five other Tigers starters. Joining him are outfielders Bubba Higgins and Joe Arnold, infielders Chris Kelly, all seniors, and juniors Geoff Baldwin and Connor Dixon as an infielder and pitcher respectively.

League runner-up Fruita Monument had four first-team players. Casey Reed and Cody Bell were picked as infielders. Brackett Mays was tabbed for an outfield slot. Rex Clemons was voted as the league’s utility player. Rounding out the list of area first-team honorees were Central’s Travis Moody and Seth King.

Travis Key and Joey Garcia of the Warriors received second-team honors along with Fruita’s Ryan Mixon and Grand Junction designated hitter Aaron Berk.