Four Exemplary Student-Athletes Receive $2,000 Bursary From Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame
/Four student-athletes were recipients of the annual Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame Bursary Award at a presentation ceremony at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Wednesday night.
(Left to right) Pat Bronson, PDSHoF chair; Delaney Hancock, 18; Parker Miller, 18; Alexis Thompson Jenkins, 18; Erik Unger, 17 and Linda de Jeu, PDSHoF Second Vice Chair. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Delaney Hancock, Parker Miller, Alexis Thompson Jenkins and Erik Unger were all high-school student recipients that took home $2,000 apiece from the bursary.
It has been given annually to four recipients since 1996 (with 2020 having six). This year’s winners will have their headshots commemorated in the Hall of Fame and will have their names etched into the history of the awards’ beneficiaries.
Delaney Hancock, 18. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Hancock, 18, is an honours student and a graduate of St. Peter Secondary School. She is attending St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B. in the fall for their Bachelor of Arts Program.
She plays sports such as field hockey, soccer, badminton, ice hockey and track and field for the St. Peter’s Saints. Hancock was also a member of the varsity running club, winning several MVP awards.
Hancock is active in the sports world not just as an athlete. She is an official for minor soccer, a hockey timekeeper, a lacrosse timekeeper and a fitness leader for the Ice Kats training camp. In high school, she was a LINK leader and a peer tutor in a special needs physical-education class and a member of the Athletics council.
She has played hockey for the PGHA Ice Kats, coccer with the Oshawa Kicks, Ice Hockey for the Central York Panthers U18 AA team and has been a member of the Kawartha Lakes Lightning running Club.
Outside of sports, Hancock volunteered for Kawartha Food Share as a food sorter, was an instructor at Girls with Game Basketball camp, a Peterborough City soccer camp instructor, baked for Humane Society Fundraiser on National Cupcake Day and helped at the Saints Classic Tournament.
Parker Miller, 18. Photo by David Tuan bui.
Miller is an honours student and a graduate of Adam Scott Collegiate. In the fall, he plans to attend McMaster University in Hamilton to study business.
During high school, the 18-year-old played volleyball, basketball, soccer and ultimate frisbee. He served as captain of the soccer and basketball teams. In ultimate, he was awarded the gold medal game MVP honours during back-to-back OFSAA championships in the past two seasons. Miller also was the 2023 Nationals gold medal game MVP.
He captained his school basketball team to an OFSAA Bronze medal earlier this year. His team also was awarded the OFSAA Sportsmanship Award.
In the community, he has played basketball with the Time 2 Hoop program as captain. Miller also played rugby in the Pagans program and ultimate.
His leadership skills continued by coaching basketball and soccer at local summer camps, coaching and organizing a grade six youth basketball house-league team, officiating basketball, scoring and timing at basketball games, tournaments and camps. He helped with training sessions for Peterborough youth basketball and Time 2 Hoop program. Miller was a camp counsellor at the Raiders summer basketball camp and a Level 1 CISA ski instructor.
Alexis ‘Lexi’ Thompson Jenkins, 18. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
Jenkins is an honours student and graduate of the Crestwood Edge program at Crestwood Secondary School. In the fall, she will be attending the University of Oregon on a lacrosse scholarship while studying human physiology.
At Crestwood, she participated on the basketball, volleyball, wrestling, lacrosse, Nordic Ski and rugby teams. Individually, she did track and field and cross country. She was a captain of her teams in lacrosse, basketball and rugby. She earned numerous Kawartha and COSSA individual championships as well as being named MVP in basketball and wrestling.
At the year-end athletic banquets, Jenkins was awarded the Larry Pearson Award, the Sportsmanship Award and the Dysart Award three years in a row. To cap off her Crestwood athletic tenure, she was named ‘Student of the Year’ which recognizes leadership, character and athletics.
The 18-year-old was a member of the Kawartha Lacrosse Club, was on Team Ontario’s box lacrosse team, Peterborough Power basketball player, a Kawartha Nordic Ski Club member and part of the Peterborough Legion Pacer track and field club.
A leader both on and off the field, Jenkins displayed leadership skills by coaching and officiating rugby for elementary school athletes, volunteering at the Pagans Minis program, coaching house league lacrosse and officiating youth soccer.
She volunteered at Kawartha Food Share program as a porch pirate, Champlain animal hospital and was an ‘amigos’ for Crestwood’s lunchtime support program for the LLS students.
Erik Unger, 17. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
