Sadly the football season is over, as our Middle Creek Mustangs got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs against a very good Knightdale team. Other than that loss they had a terrific year and should be proud of themselves. In addition to their success as a team, they actually had a player on their team, Owen Schmitz, win the Extra Effort Award. Owen is easily one of the most qualified candidates for this award, and I wasn’t shocked at all to hear that he had gotten it.
Owen Schmitz is a 17-year-old senior at Middle Creek. He plays football, lacrosse, and tennis. He was able to do all three last year because of COVID, but he doesn’t know about this year. He hopes to continue to do all three.
What does Owen do outside of school? “I cut lawns, go to the gym, run, spend time with friends and family, and go camping.” With all that going on in his life, it’s even more impressive that he is an A/B student.
Owen was actually surprised about winning the award. When asked about how he felt about it, Owen said, “I feel good, real good.” What qualified Owen to win this award? We know that he does a lot of extracurricular activities and outside of school activities, but Owen said, “My hard work during practice and during games helped better our team.” As a teammate of Owen myself, I can say he is always so hard working and he likes to win. Owen winning this award was long overdue, because personally I can’t think of a better candidate.
This award that Owen received is a huge accomplishment for him because his hard work on and off the field finally paid off. This will also look great for colleges when he is applying to them. The next time you see Owen in the halls, make sure you congratulate him on all of his achievements!