CLEVELAND -- From a Cy Young Award winning pitcher and Cavaliers legend to a local student-athlete battling cancer, Cleveland’s best and brightest in the world of sports were honored at the 18th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel Downtown on Wednesday night.
Honors were given to the best male and female high school and collegiate athletes, as well as professional athlete of the year, Cleveland Clinic Sports Health Courage Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award.
WATCH: PART 1 OF BACKSTAGE COVERAGE OF GREATER CLEVELAND SPORTS AWARDS
WATCH: PART 2 OF BACKSTAGE COVERAGE OF GREATER CLEVELAND SPORTS AWARDS
Here is a look back at the 18th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards.
Wadsworth football player Joey Baughman was named the Male High School Athlete of the Year.
A senior quarterback for the Grizzlies, Baughman was named 2017 Ohio Mr. Football in December after throwing for 3,079 yards and 36 touchdowns to go along with his 1,523 yards and 20 scores while rushing the football.
Baughman was the first player in Wadsworth High School history to win the Ohio Mr. Football Award and the fourth quarterback in the last seven years to earn the accolade.
With Baughman, who gave up a wrestling scholarship at Virginia to pursue football at Elon University, at the helm of the offense, the Grizzlies finished off an undefeated regular season, won the Suburban League Championship and advanced to the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II Regional Semifinals before falling to the Olmsted Falls Bulldogs, 21-20, in postseason play.
Brecksville-Broadview Heights volleyball star Shannon Williams was named the Female High School Athlete of the Year.
In 2017, Williams led the Bees to a District Championship and an appearance in the Regional Semifinals by averaging 13 assists per set. During the 2017 season, Williams totaled 1,069 assists, 20 service aces, 226 digs and 96 kills.
Williams will continue her career at the University of Cincinnati.
Kent State University track-and-field star Reggie Jagers III was named the Male Collegiate Athlete of the Year Award.
A native of Solon, Ohio, Jagers is a five-time All-American, as well as a World University Games Discus Champion and Jr. Pan-American Games Bronze medalist.
Owner of the Golden Flashes’ men’s discus record with a toss of 197 feet, five inches, Jagers was the first men’s discus thrower in Kent State history to reach All-American status.
Because of his successes, Jagers is a two-time Olympic and USA Trials contender and was invited to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California.
Hallie Thome, a former Chagrin Falls standout and current University of Michigan star basketball player, was named the Female Collegiate Athlete of the Year at the 18th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel Downtown Wednesday.
Thome was named first-team All-Big Ten Conference and Academic All-Big Ten, as well as a Big Ten Player of the Week during the early portion of her career with the Wolverines.
Additionally, Thome is just the third sophomore in Michigan women’s basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Last season, Thome averaged 17.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
Cleveland Indians ace pitcher Corey Kluber was named the Professional Athlete of the Year Award.
Kluber, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, earned the honor over his Indians teammate, all-star infielder Jose Ramirez, Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James and 10-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas of the Cleveland Browns.
During the 2017 season, Kluber, who first brought home the Cy Young Award in 2014, struck out 265 hitters against just 36 walks with 141 hits and 51 earned runs allowed over 203.2 innings of work. Kluber posted an 18-4 record and American League-best 2.25 ERA on the way to leading the Indians to a second straight AL Central Division Championship.
The AL Pitcher of the Month for June, August and September, Kluber struck out at least seven batters in 16 of his last 19 games of the regular season.
North Olmsted High School senior Samer Badi was honored with the Cleveland Clinic Sports Health Courage Award.
Badi is currently undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments for Stage IV Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) in the outpatient center.
During the preparations for his senior season, Badi felt pain in his jaw. After multiple trips to the doctor failed to diagnose his symptoms, Badi’s pain became unbearable and he was rushed to the emergency room, where a tennis ball-sized mass was discovered in his right parotid gland.
The mass proved to be cancerous in the connective tissues.
Former Cleveland Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Selected in the first round of the 1996 NBA Draft, Ilgauskas battled multiple foot injuries and had to undergo extensive, and oftentimes, cutting-edge surgeries in the early part of his career, but managed his way through the obstacles and became a two-time NBA All-Star.
When Ilgauskas left the Cavaliers after the 2010 season, he did so as the franchise’s all-time leader in games played (771), offensive rebounds (2,336), total rebounds (5,904), and blocked shots (1,269). He ranked second in points scored (10,616), defensive rebounds (3,568) and minutes played (21,823), as well as third in free throws made (2,495) and attempted (3,197).
Also, Ilgauskas was tied for the most playoff games played in Cavaliers history, and during those 71 contests, he averaged 11 points, totaled 523 rebounds, and blocked 82 shots. His 784 points are third-most in Cavaliers playoff history.
Ilgauskas remains top three in games played, offensive, defensive and total rebounds, free throws made and attempted, blocked shots, points and minutes played in regular-season games.
INDIANS WIN BEST MOMENT AWARD
The Indians had an American League record 22-game winning streak in late August and early September last season, and for their efforts, they were recognized with the Best Moment of the Year Award.
The Indians were quite literally down to their last strike against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field on September 14, but rather than having their American League-record win streak snapped, they found a way to score runs in their final two at-bats to earn the 3-2 victory in walk-off fashion.
The come-from-behind win was the Indians’ 22nd straight victory, which is the second-longest streak in the history of Major League Baseball.
