By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

Von Julien, Toni Hebert, Jacorey Haynes and Peyton Falgoust each earned top honors at Riverside’s annual athletic banquet, reflecting their athletic accomplishments for the 2013-14 sports season.

Julien was named Riverside’s Male Athlete of the Year and Hebert its Female Athlete of the Year, while Haynes and Falgoust earned the football honors of Mr. Rebel and the Lorenzo Clement Memorial Award, respectively. 

Julien, a junior, earned All-State honors on the basketball court, posting averages of 14 points, nine assists and just two turnovers a contest. On the football field, he was a big part of a dangerous wide receiving corps that made the Rebels one of the state’s highest scoring teams, while in track and field, Julien helped anchor the 4×100 and 4×200 state qualifying relay teams.

“He excelled in all three of those sports for us,” said Riverside athletic director Timmy Byrd, who coaches Julien in basketball. “He’s a strong ambassador for our school and somebody we feel proud to present this award to.”

Hebert, meanwhile, made an impact in four sports as a sophomore, highlighting her efforts with an All-State season on the softball diamond. She hit .449 with 28 runs scored and 21 RBIs while posting a 2.87 ERA as a pitcher. Hebert was also a standout guard on the basketball team and helped her team earn district championship honors in volleyball and track and field. She earned All-Parish honors in softball, basketball and volleyball. 

“As young as she is, only a sophomore, it’s just really exciting to watch her career unfold here,” Byrd said. “Hands down, she contributed so much to our school over four sports. She was a clear choice.”

Haynes, a senior defensive back last season, earned the honor of “Mr. Rebel” after, as football coach Bill Stubbs put it, “exemplifying what it means to be a football player at Riverside Academy.” 

He said leadership is heavily weighed in the selection of Mr. Rebel award.

Stubbs said Haynes’ work ethic was second to none. 

“He always worked his butt off,” Stubbs said. “He had a tremendous attitude every day. He pumped everyone up at practice. I really feel all of our other players looked up to him.”

The coach also said that he’s taken Haynes’ No. 24 and will reserve it for the player each year who brings traits most representative of what Haynes brought. This season, Stubbs has bestowed that number upon junior defensive back Jujuan Bell. 

“Jacorey (Haynes) was a model athlete for our school,” Stubbs said. 

Falgoust, a senior wide receiver, earned the Lorenzo Clement Memorial Award to cap a Rebels football career that Stubbs called very rare. 

“You might get four or five players in a 20-year coaching career like him,” Stubbs said. “He’s a kid that went full speed every single day, regardless of what resulted from it. He played hurt over the last two years. People don’t know because he wouldn’t let them know.”

As a senior, Falgoust, Stubbs revealed, played with a broken bone in his hand, but kept the injury to himself as to not jeopardize his season.

“Ultimately, he needed surgery,” Stubbs said. “When you talk about tough kids, a hard-nosed, tough guy who’ll lose a leg and keep going, lose an arm and keep going … that award is really reflective of toughness, and that’s what Peyton Falgoust represents.”