Local standouts honored at 2025 St. Joseph Sports Inc. Awards
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – St. Joseph Sports Inc. hosted its 2025 high school scholar-athlete, coach of the year and community engagement awards presentation Thursday night inside Missouri Western’s Spratt Hall Atrium and theater.
The two-hour event opened with a casual reception before transitioning into the formal awards presentation. The evening recognized 20 standout student-athletes and five high school coaches for their excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community.
This year’s Coach of the Year nominees included Joshua Walters of Lafayette, Johnny Coy of Benton, Kathryn Runyan of St. Joseph Christian, Gregg Mrkvicka of Bishop LeBlond and Callene “Callie” Farrell of Central.
The award went to Johnny Coy, who guided the Benton Cardinals baseball team to a second-place finish in the Class 4 state tournament. Coy, also named MEC Coach of the Year, led Benton to a 32-4 overall record and continues to serve as head coach of the St. Joseph Mustangs, a franchise with nine MINK League championships.
“It's really humbling, I mean, there are so many coaches in Saint Joe that weren't even, you know, nominated and probably should have been,” Coy said. “This is an award for, you know, all
The Scholar-Athlete of the Year award was split into male and female categories, with the top honorees each receiving a $1,000 scholarship. The remaining finalists were awarded $500 scholarships.
In the female category, nominees included Sadie Sanders (Lafayette), Abigail Robinson (St. Joseph Christian), Kennedy Sponseller (Central), Emma Loehnig (Benton) and Claire Heater (Bishop LeBlond).
Emma Loehnig earned the honor, as the senior and three-sport standout qualified for state in golf twice and earned All-District recognition in golf, volleyball and basketball. She ranks fourth in her senior class academically.
“It really means a lot, it feels like all my hard work is really paying off,” Loehnig said. “But to be picked out of the females that were over there, like hearing everyone's stories and like, their journey and all of that, I mean, like it was a tough competition and I'm just honored that I was chosen to represent this and represent my school and I’m just very happy.”
In the male category, finalists included Elias Chapin (Lafayette), Logan Hubble (St. Joseph Christian), Amonttay Henderson (Central), Chris Coy (Benton) and Jacob Winkelbauer (Bishop LeBlond).
Winkelbauer took home the award after a decorated two-sport career. He earned multiple Academic All-State honors in football and baseball and served as a team captain in both sports while helping his teams to district and state-level success.
“It's huge for me,” Winkelbauer said. “My biggest goal has been to balance sports and athletics, and I've been trying to do that for the past four years, and it really shows that my work paid off.”
The evening also recognized Community Engagement Award of Excellence winners in both the male and female divisions.
Christian Anderson of Bishop LeBlond was honored for his work with Second Harvest Food Kitchen and two other volunteer organizations, while Alexia McDaniel of St. Joseph Christian was recognized for her service at Mosaic Cancer Center and seven additional organizations.
