REMEMBER THE WINNERS: McCormick Unsung Heroes Award winners Erin Workmeister (left) of Notre Dame Prep and Kevin Kikola (right) of Patapsco flank former T.C. Williams football coach Herman Boone, whose the subject of the Walt Disney motion pitcture, "Remember The Titans." Workmeister and Kikola were the recepients of $36,000 each toward their college educations after hearing Boone, the guest speaker, deliver an inspiration speech to a large crowd at Marriott's Hunt Valley in on Monday night.
A STRONG MESSGE: "All of my life has been spent trying to make a difference," former T.C. Williams football coach Herman Boone (above) told the students in the audience at Monday night's Unsung Heroes Awards Banquet. "I challenge each of you to do the same."
(See video interviews and highlights below)
As a member of the Notre Dame Prep basketball team, Erin Workmeister got her kicks from playing defense and otherwise outhustling the rival team's best player.
Patapsco's football player, Kevin Kikola, earned a reputation primarily for his kicking prowess, but it was his willingness to play nearly every other position on the field without acclaim that won the praise and admiration of his coaches and teammates.
On Monday night, against the backdrop of an inspirational speech made by a champion of racial equality named Herman Boone, the duo was named the respective male and female winners of the 68th annual McCormick Unsung Heroes Awards at the Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn.
As the 60th and 61st recepients of the Charles Perry McCormick Awards, both Workmeister, who will attend Salisbury University with an eye toward majoring in physical therapy, and Kikola, who is headed for the University of Maryland as an engineering major, will receive $36,000 scholarships toward their college educations.
"I'm kind of surprised and shocked. This is such a great honor. I would like to thank McCormick. I would like to thank my parents and the incredible support system that I have at my school," said Workmeister. "This would not be possible without my athletic director and my coaches. They were such great inspirations to me."
Workmeister averaged six points and five to six steals per game, but it was her defense that was her strength, said her coach, Katie Campitelli.
"She's just our allaround, perfect unsung hero. She's are leader, she plays defense. Her name never shows up in the box score. She never goes out for herself," said Campitelli, whose assistant, Kim Bryson, also attended the banquet. "She just leads our team and does all of the little things."
After Kikola was announced as the winner, and had made his way toward the podium, his father, Ron, recalled how he never had played football until high school, where he blossomed in relative obscurity.
"As his father, I coached him in soccer and in baseball for his whole recreation league career. As soon as he entered high school, he decided that football and lacrosse -- two contact sports -- were what he wanted to do," said Ron Kikola, who attended the event with his wife, Regina.
"As a varsity football player, when they needed him to fill in, the coach asked for him to step up. He had the opportunity as a varsity starter to start at leas one game each at guard, as a center, as a quarterback and as a linebacker, as well as as a kicker, which is his passion," Ron Kikola said.
"He's undersized, but that's not the measure of his heart," said Ron Kikola. "I'm so proud of him."
Kevin Kikola has kicked field goals of 36, 39 and 43 yards over the course of his career, but excelled the most in support of his teammates whenever called upon.
"I can't stress to you the importance this reward will have toward my college education. I would like to thank my coaches, teachers and athletic directors, my teachers and my principal -- they're the real unsung heroes," Kikola said. "And I'd like to thank my mom and my dad. I love you guys."
Before being bestowed with the awards, the two athletes were treated to guest speaker Herman Boone, who addressed them as well as the large audience that included the other 117 awards candidates from the 73 Baltimore area public, parochial and independent schools.
Boone is the retired football coach of the T.C. Williams High School Titans whose story was told in the Disney movie, "Remember The Titans," one which chronicled the racial tension of the early 1970s that greeted him as he merged three, previously segregated schools and turned them into a championship squad of unified white and black players.
"My main inspiration for coming here is to show that education can make a difference. Even for those who do not win the scholarship," Boone said.
"They should continue their education, so that they can go back into their neighborhoods and show the other younger kids that there are other role models other than the pimps, and the gangsters," said Boone. "Thank God, I can use the movie as a vehicle that will bring me here, so that I can talk to these kids about this great phenomena of life."
Boone was joined at the banquet by former players Julius "Big Ju" Campbell, Kerry Lundin and Darryl "Blue" Stanton.
"All of my life has been spent trying to make a difference," Boone told the members of the audience. "I challenge each and every one of of you to do the same."