MICHAEL FRANCIS MYCHAK TORNADO HERITAGE AWARD This year’s Mike Mychak Tornado Heritage Award winner is Olivia Lubinski, daughter of Scott and Nicole Lubinski of Mount Carmel. One of the criteria of the award, in addition to excelling on the fields and in the classroom, is to show pride in Mount Carmel Area both at school and in the community. What better avenue to show that pride than as a cheerleader, something that Olivia has done for all four years. She served as a captain for both football and basketball squads as a senior and was named to the National Cheerleaders Association All American team for four years in a row. Olivia has completed four years with basketball and three years with football. Athletically, Olivia has excelled on the soccer fields for MCA for four years, and was named a co-captain in both her junior and senior seasons. Her teams qualified for the District playoffs for 3 of those years. She was named to the News-Item Girls Soccer All Star team as a senior. Lubinski has shown the most versatility as a member of the girls track team at MCA. She has competed in the 100 meters, 100 meter high hurdles, 300 meter intermediate hurdles, long jump, 4 x 100 meter relay, 4 x 400 meter relay and 4 x 800 meter relay. She has attained personal bests of 15’9” in the long jump, 17.64 in the 100 m hurdles, and 50.48 in the 300 m hurdles. She has qualified for districts in the 100HH, 300IH, long jump, 100m, 4 x 1 relay and 4 x 8 relay, going to the state meet as an alternate as a freshman. She is dedicated to both winter and spring track and works hard to better herself and is a positive influence on her teammates. Coach Ditchey remarked that “her work ethic, attitude, and leadership will help her become a vital member of this year’s team and fully expects that her best season is yet to come.” She will be one of the team captains for 2017 season. Academically, Olivia currently ranks 4th in her class and is a member of the National Honor Society and regularly earns Distinguished Honors. She serves as the Sargent at arms of both the Reading Club and Spanish Clubs, and is a member of the tech-ed club and is a Think Big student leader. She has been recently chosen the Rotary Student of the Month for January and was the Ed Romance Chapter Athlete of the month for September. Her future plans are to attend Penn State University to major in Civil Engineering.

JOSEPH WASILEWSKI FEMALE SCHOLAR ATHLETE Maura Fiamoncini is without a doubt one of the best female athletes to ever wear the red and white of Mount Carmel Area High School. She is as tough mentally as she is physically, although one would not know it to look at her. What people don’t know is how hard she works at her craft and has truly earned all of the accolades that have come her way. A severe knee injury during basketball season put her track season in jeopardy. As Coach Ana Ditchey has noted; “she worked tirelessly at the hope of coming back to just throw, not knowing how she would be impacted. To go from a season in question to becoming a Penn Relays and State Champion is the ultimate sports story.” Fiamoncini became MCA’s first ever female state champion in 2016 – in any sport – when she threw 155’1” in the javelin at the PIAA State Championships. She was undefeated during the 2016 season, winning the League Championship, District Championship, and the Penn Relay Championship. She also won League and District Championships in 2015 and placed second at the PIAA meet. She was named the News Item, Daily Item and Press Enterprise Player of the Year for Track and Field following the 2016 season. Maura was also chosen as the SECV8 Female Athlete of the Year in 2016. Fiamoncini also starred on the basketball court for Coach Lisa Varano, becoming the best “6th man” anywhere and helping the Tornadoes to their 4th consecutive District Championship in 2014. She led the team in scoring in 2015 with 532 points and a third place finish in District IV. Only Maria Fantanarosa (4 times) scored more points in any season than the 532. Even though she struggled with the knee injury toward the end of the 2016 season, Maura helped the Lady Tornadoes win their 6th District Championship. Maura would become the 5th underclassmen to score 1000 points in her career with her total standing at 1128. Maura also registered 102 three point goals in her three seasons, surpassing the previous best of 96 by Lesley Gilotti in 1993. She also earned News Item Player of the Year for basketball in 2015. Maura also excels in the classroom with her second place standing and over 1200 in her SAT’s. She is a Distinguished Honor Roll Student and a member of the National Honor Society. She is a School Board Merit Award winner and Elk’s Teen of the Month. She serves as treasurer of the senior class and is a Thing Big Student Leader, as well as, a Special Olympic Volunteer. This combination of academics and athletics has earned her a full scholarship to Bucknell University where she plans to receive a B.A. in Mathematics and pursue a career as an actuary. She is the daughter of Games and Justine Fiamoncini of Mount Carmel.

JOSEPH JAZZ DIMINICK MALE SCHOLAR ATHLETE Kevin Stancavage is the type of athlete that Jazz Diminick always knew was so important to his team’s success. Never the star or headliner, but the “meat and potatoes” player that made all of his teams better. Kevin has been a mainstay of Mount Carmel Area Cross country for the last two years, posting a terrific 16-5 record. Although a late addition to the sport, Kevin established himself as an important component in the team’s success. Stancavage was able to manage a 9th place finish at the Heartland Conference League Championship and moved up one spot to an 8th place finish in the District IV Championships by running a personal best of 17:27. His top ten finish allowed him to compete at the PIAA State Championship meet in 2016 and had a very respectable 85th place finish. His coach Chris Catton – “He became a leader of our cross country team and led the squad to a third place finish at the District IV meet. He speaks to the blue collar attitude of our program and serves as an example for those to come.” He was chosen as the Ed Romance Chapter Athlete of the month for November. Kevin has been a four-year member of the MCA boy’s track and field team for Coach Catton. Kevin has mainly competed in the distance events from the 800 to 1600 to 3200 meter runs. His personal bests are 2:11, 4:56, and 10:32 respectively. By virtue of their second place finish at the District IV meet, Kevin and his 4 x 800 meter relay team had the privilege of competing at the PIAA State Championships at Shippensburg in 2016. He joins a select number of athletes who have been able to compete at the state level in two sports. Stancavage is ranked in the top 20% of his class at MCA and has been a member of the National Honor Society and is a Distinguished Honor Roll student. He is a member of the Calculus Club and Latin Clubs at MCA. He has assisted behind the scenes for 3 years as a member of the stage crew and for 2 years as a member of the WKMC TV studio. Kevin also serves as an altar server at the Church of Our Lady in Mount Carmel and helped to set up and aid in any way for the annual church picnic for Father Karwacki. He plans to attend either Rochester, Bucknell, or Penn State to pursue a master’s degree in computer science and eventually work as a computer programmer. Kevin resides in Kulpmont with his mother Tammy Keretski and step-father Peter Keretski.