The Golden Owls Take Flight!

This year, Overlake’s Athletic Club and Athletic Director John Wiley wanted to change things up with our year-end Upper School sports celebration.

That was the start of The Golden Owls Awards. “This concept plays a lot better to our video generation,” says Wiley. “We cut out lots of the coach speeches and incorporated a lot more media.”

Students were recognized for their athletic accomplishments by grade in a series of videos for every Overlake sport. Teams were honored with their championship banners and this year there was no shortage as many Owls teams not only took part in post season play but had tremendous success.

One of those winning stories came from our Girls’ Tennis Team whose seniors doubles team of Kamila M. and Mihika S. upset teams enroute to a third-place finish at state in Yakima. “It’s been a dream of ours since seventh grade to go to state and get a banner here in the gym. It’s really nice to come back and reconnect with our teammates and friends to celebrate it,” says Kamila who has been off campus focusing on her Senior Project.

One facet of the evening that hasn’t changed is our Overlake Athletics Hall of Fame. It’s our induction of an Overlake Alum who exemplifies our mission through athletics through sportsmanship, characters, and athletic success. This year’s honoree is Dean Poplawski (’12). Introduced by his basketball coach Justin Prohn, Poplawski was a five-sport athlete who not only played a variety of sports but excelled at all of them. He’s one of only three Owls who have scored 1000-points in Overlake Basketball and was a member of the 2012 State Championship Soccer team. “Once you get back on campus, you feel the same feelings you did when you were in high school,” explains Poplawski who posed for photos with the Overlake community. “Seeing my old friends, coaches, and teachers really brought back those memories. Even as I was making my speech and accepting the award, I was reminded of sitting in those bleachers as a student athlete.”

The evening concluded with our senior athletes reuniting with their coaches for a heartfelt thanks for all their effort and leadership.

Click here for a slideshow from this year’s Golden Owls celebration.