There were some tough decisions for North Callaway’s top athletes this year.

For the first time, there were co-male winners of the Jerry Schoppenhorst Award with seniors Sam Pezold and Lane Kimbley each earning the award. Riley Blevins was named the female Chop award winner.

Pezold plans to play basketball at William Woods University in Fulton but also played baseball in his career as a Thunderbird. Basketball was definitely the sport Pezold garnered more attention as the all-time leading scorer with 1,395 points, the all-time steals leader with 253 and the all-time 3-point shooter in a tie with previous all-time scoring leader Matthew Weber at 209. He also set the single-season steals record at 95 this season and was a three-time all-conference player in the Eastern Missouri Conference, including his first first-team and unanimous selection this past year. 

“It's just an amazing accomplishment of what he did in four years of varsity basketball,” North Callaway boys basketball head coach Matt Miller said after Pezold became the all-time leading scorer. “In the last four years, we played 107 varsity basketball games, and Sam played 106 of them. Everything has improved. His scoring has improved every single season, but then his overall basketball — his IQ, his rebounding and his defense.”

In baseball, Pezold was one of six all-conference players for the Eastern Missouri Conference champion Thunderbirds. In his second all-conference season, he was a first-time infielder after hitting for a .338 batting average, .436 on-base percentage and a .467 slugging percentage and finishing with 17 RBI and eight extra-base hits. Those numbers were all career-highs along with his career-best 2.50 ERA in 33⅔ innings.

Kimbley made history for the school too on the wrestling mat. This year, he became the school’s first ever state champion in a career he won four state medals and surpassing 150 career wins. The future William Woods Owl defeated Father Tolton’s Grant Anderson 8-3 in the 138-pound championship match — which was his first ever state finals match — after losing a district title to the same opponent earlier in the year. 

“Thank God for the blessing,” North Callaway wrestling head coach, football defensive coordinator and father Ronnie Kimbley said about coaching his son after his state championship victory. “It was awesome to be able to be the dad, the coach and a friend.”

On the football field, Kimbley tied the school record with seven interceptions this season to go with 53 tackles. This resulted in him being named a second-team all-conference defensive back and an all-district player this season.

Kimbley competed for track and field in the spring in the 300-meter hurdles, 4x400-meter relay, pole vault, triple jump and 400 meters.

Blevins is the third Chop award winner this year that will play at William Woods, deciding to join the volleyball program after her third straight first-team all-Eastern Missouri Conference selection. The libero set the program digs record for a match and season at 44 and 438, respectively, beating the 30 and 330 digs set by Nicole Emmons five years ago. 

“We always talk about her instincts as an athlete,” North Callaway volleyball head coach Andrew Klein said after her college signing. “She wasn’t always just a volleyball player. I could tell she had grown up around a lot of athletic people. She’s certainly been around a fast pace of athletics and her instincts and her nose for the ball is something to be proud of as a player. You can’t teach instincts.”

On the basketball court, Blevins was a first-team all-Eastern Missouri Conference selection for the first time after two second teams the past two years and was all-district after averaging 12.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.9 blocks and 2.1 steals. She was one of two Ladybirds to surpass 1,000 career points this season, finishing with 871 career points in three years at North Callaway with the rest happening as a freshman at Mexico.