Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month

The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee began in 1957 when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the 1971 creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month – the honors enter their 62nd year in 2018. To be eligible, an athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region. Each of the monthly award winners are honored in the summer at the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony, hosted by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Photo by Stephen Lew, CrescentCitySports.com

Martin Butcher, a senior quarterback for Newman, was selected as the Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month for October. In four October games, Butcher threw for 1,254 yards, 19 touchdowns, with only two passes going to the wrong colored jersey as the Greenies went 3-1. He completed 63% of his tosses. His two highlight performances for the month came against Country Day Oct. 5th, where he completed 19 of 27 for 310 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions in a 35-31 loss. He outdid that with a 371-yard effort in a 41-14 win over Riverside Oct. 12th, completing 30 of 44 with four scoring passes and no interceptions.

For the season, Newman has posted an 11-1 overall mark. The fifth-seeded Greenies opened the Allstate Sugar Bowl/LHSAA Division III Playoffs with a 40-7 victory over Northlake Christian. They will play fourth-seeded Calvary Baptist in the quarterfinals this Friday at 7 p.m.

Butcher was selected over three other standout local athletes. Bonnabel junior Alahna Degruy narrowly missed becoming the first high school girls bowler in Louisiana to roll a perfect 300 game, but still set a pair of state prep records for high game (299) and two-game series (515) in high school club bowling league action on October 10 at AMF All Star Lanes. Jacob Guidry led Slidell High’s football team to a perfect 4-0 month of October as the Tigers clinched their first district title since 2003. He completed 55-of-86 passes (63.9 percent) for 1,141 yards and 15 touchdowns during the month. University of New Orleans Cross Country star Arina Kleshchukova, a sophomore from Bishkek, Kytrgyzstan, had never competed in cross country until September but she managed to finish no lower than fourth in her first four competitions – including a second-place finish at the Southland Conference Cross Country Championships. Kytrgyzstan earned first-team all-conference recognition and was also named the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year.