THIS TAKES COACHING — The ever witty Coach Richie delivers his humorous but emotional farewell speech at Tyler Consolidated’s athletic banquet Monday night.

Tyler Consolidated High School held their annual athletic banquet Monday evening to honor all students that became Silver Knights on the playing field this past year.

Many students gathered and accepted awards and became letter-winners for Tyler Consolidated this year. Some were standing up on the stage for the first time, and others for the last.

Seniors definitely made an impact as this year’s graduating class set some impressive marks, some of the best in the 15-year history of the school.

There was Chelsea Musgrave, who won numerous awards in volleyball and took a team on her shoulders as the only senior for the defending state champions. She goes out as one of the winningest players as the Silver Knights won 72 percent of the games she played in. She also filled the same solo senior role for the girls basketball team.

Zack Perkey was also a player that filled a similar position for the boys basketball team and being one of the stronger inside players in recent years. He also provides leadership for the baseball team in which he was recently named to the 1st team All-LKC.

Kaitlyn Goudy was a fixture on the softball diamond. Anytime the Silver Knights were in action, she was almost always in the center circle. As a result, she ends her career setting all but one of the pitching records.

Nathan Weese was one the stars on the cross country and track teams. While every sport uses running as a form of conditioning and workout, he took it to another level. Actually forget level and try a mountain range. Coach Joe Semple crunched the numbers before the banquet and figured out that the total distance he had run from the two sports, and not on his own time, was more than 4,000 miles.

Nate Zills will become one of the few Silver Knights’ football stars to further his career at the next level when he straps the pads on for the Marietta Pioneers this fall. He and his football teammates also earned the second-straight LKC championship during the fall.

Then there is Cullen Grover, who recently became one of the few athletes in the history of athletics in Tyler County, regardless of school, to earn the title as a state champion after winning the 215 lbs. weight class at the state wrestling tournament. He’s looking to place at next week’s state track championships as well.

Perhaps one of the more interesting moments of the evening didn’t come as a result of an achievement of a student. Instead, it was a coach who has decided to retire at the end of the year. With Grover’s state championship win came the end of an era and career of Larry Richie at Tyler Consolidated. In an emotional and comedic address, Coach Richie said his goodbyes to a standing ovation.

Not only was Monday night a reminder of the success of sports at Tyler Consolidated during the past year, but also gave hope for the future as many programs have underclassmen ready to take the reigns from this year’s seniors.