Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame Annual Awards
2018 Cynthia J. Wyatt Award
Semifinalist Watch List
Released on June 23, 2018
Rochester, NY: Below is the 2018 Semifinalist Watch List for the Cynthia J. Waytt Award (High School Female Athlete of the Year).
The members of 11 person watch list come from ten high schools. The fourteen athletes on the Others Considered list come from thirteen schools. Between the two lists, twenty-one high schools are represented.
The athletes on the watch list include winners of five New York State High School indoor championships and six New York State High School outdoor championships who earned All-American status once during cross country, three times during the indoor season.
Orchard Park High School has two athletes on the watch list while Fayetteville-Manlius High School has two athletes on the Others Considered list. Cicero-North Syracuse High School and Rush-Henrietta Sperry High School each have one athlete on the watch list and one on the Others Considered list.
This version of the watch list reflects the performances up through June 18, 2018 and takes into account the results of the 2018 New Balance Outdoor Nationals.
The finalists for this award will be determined from this watch list.
Nominations are accepted from any interested individual or group. Use our nomination form to submit any nomination(s). The nomination form is linked below.
The list of finalists for each of the annual awards will be announced in July.
The finalists (top 3) will be selected from these lists of semifinalists by a panel of area coaches, participants, and nationally-based historians and statisticians.
The winner of all eight of Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame annual awards are selected by the same panel of area coaches, participants, and nationally-based historians and statisticians.
The 2018 Annual Awards winners will be announced in late August or early September 2018.
Nomination Form
Download and save the nomination form to your computer. This is a PDF file.
The form can be competed using Adobe Reader. Type the requested information into the form and save the file to your computer. Then, e-mail the form to
Watch List
| Name | Grade | School | Section | Event |
| Jenna Crean | 11 | Orchard Park HS | 6 | Sprints |
| Anaya Dees | 10 | Hilton HS | 5 | Horizontal Jumps |
| Rachel Donner | 12 | Iroquois HS | 6 | Throws |
| Emilee Hanlon | 11 | Dunkirk HS | 6 | High Jump |
| Monique Hardy | 10 | Webster Thomas HS | 5 | Throws |
| Liliana Klemanski | 11 | Cicero-North Syracuse HS | 3 | High Jump |
| Leah Pasqualetti | 10 | Orchard Park HS | 6 | Pole Vault |
| Alexandria Payne | 11 | Jamesville-Dewitt HS | 3 | Multi-events |
| Brooke Rauber | 9 | Tully HS | 3 | Distance / Steeplechase |
| Lanae-Tava Thomas | 12 | Rush Henrietta Sperry HS | 5 | Sprints / Long Jump |
| Vanessa Watson | 11 | Spencerport HS | 5 | Sprints |
Others Considered
| Name | Grade | School | Section | Event |
| Kaitlyn Bonczyk | 12 | Wayne Central HS | 5 | Hurdles / Jumps |
| Lindsey Butler | 11 | Corning HS | 4 | Mid-Distance |
| Mia Grasso | 12 | Skaneateles HS | 3 | 400m Hurdles |
| Morgan Halt | 10 | Amherst HS | 6 | Multi-Events |
| Madison Neuner | 11 | Liverpool HS | 3 | Distance / Steeplechase |
| Ijeyikowoicho Onah | 12 | Ithaca HS | 4 | Horizontal Jumps |
| Hayleigh Palotti | 12 | Livonia HS | 5 | Mid-Distance |
| Mia Pestle | 12 | Cicero-North Syracuse HS | 3 | Mid-Distance |
| Indya Richards | 11 | Gates-Chili HS | 4 | Hurdles |
| Haley Riorden | 11 | Rush-Henrietta Sperry HS | 5 | Mid-Distance |
| Sophie Ryan | 12 | Fayetteville-Manlius HS | 3 | Distance |
| Adriana Straughte | 12 | Baldwinsville HS | 3 | Multi-Events |
| Christina Wende | 12 | Kenmore West HS | 6 | Hurdles / Horizontal Jumps |
| Phoebe White | 10 | Fayetteville-Manlius HS | 3 | Distance |
About the Cynthia J. Wyatt Award
The Cynthia J. Wyatt Award, which debuted in 2012, is presented annually by the Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame to the outstanding Female High School Athlete of the Year in the Niagara Association.
Cynthia J. Wyatt, a member of the Hall of Fame's Class of 1998, our inaugural class, was a pioneer in the sport. A two-time National Indoor Champion in the Shot put, Wyatt competed in shot put at the 1963 Pan American Games and was on six United States teams which competed against the Soviet Union teams in the 1960s. Wyatt, who is a graduate of Williamsville High School, Williamsville, NY, is one of the first women to get a college scholarship to compete in Track and Field (University of Hawaii).
For more information on The Cynthia J. Wyatt Award, the trophy, and Cynthia Wyatt herself, visit NiagaraTrackHoF.org.About the Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame Annual Awards
The Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame Annual Awards program was developed to bring some well deserved recognition to the outstanding high school and college athletes and teams, and the top high school coach from the Niagara Association.
The finalists (top 3) are selected from the lists of semifinalists by a panel of area coaches, participants, and nationally-based historians and statisticians.
The winner of all eight of Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame annual awards are selected by the same panel of area coaches, participants, and nationally-based historians and statisticians.
About the Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame
Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame and Virtual Museum is provisionally chartered by the Regents of the University of the State of New York. The purpose of the Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame and Virtual Museum is to recognize those individuals who made significant and outstanding contributions to the Sport of Athletics (including Track & Field, Long Distance Running, Race Walking, and Cross Country Running) while living within the geographic boundaries (New York State West of and including the counties of Oswego, Onondaga, Cortland, and Broome) of the Niagara Association as athletes (including Masters), coaches, and/or administrators (including Competition Officials).
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