By By Caitlin Channell, Staff Writer
Kerrianne Castleberry and Brandon Sharpless were named Female and Male Swimmers of the Year by their coach Natalie Stevenson.
June 13, the athletes were awarded trophies for their excellent athleticism and qualities at a luncheon held at the International Trade Center in Mobile. The award ceremony and luncheon was sponsored by the Optimist Club .
As members of the YMCA Atmore Stingrays, Castleberry and Sharpless have shown both great athletic and leadership skills.
Sharpless, 14, will attend Northview High School as a freshman this fall. He has been swimming as long as he can remember, but has been a member of the Stingrays for the past three years.
His humor and ability to liven up the atmosphere even at their early morning meetings makes him an enjoyable member of the team. Sharpless had a hard time choosing his favorite swim stroke because he enjoys them all.
A 10th grader at Escambia Academy, Castleberry, 15, learned to swim in her grandmother's pool when she was very young. Along with swimming, she enjoys running with EA's cross country team, and is a member of their varsity basketball team.
She has many fun stories of exciting things that have happened during her eight years at the YMCA Atmore Stingray swim meets and practices.
I love swimming and I'm definitely going to keep it up until I'm too old to take classes," said Castleberry.
The team practices three times a week and has already completed 3 of their 9 meets this summer.