Annika Bredel wins Ron and Janet Gilgenbach Award

ELYRIA — She's the kind of player and student coaches crave to have on their team. Annika Bredel, who not only holds most of Elyria Catholic's offensive softball records but quite a number of county ones as well, joined an impressive list of athletes to be given the Ron and Janet Gilgenbach Award. The award was presented by Alexis Szalai, last year's winner. Bredel holds the school and county records for career home runs (37) and batting average (.626) and set single-season marks for homers, RBIs and batting average. Imagine her career total had she been able to play during the 2020 season canceled due to the pandemic. Bredel is a two-time first-team All-Ohio selection. She hit a home run in 10 consecutive games to break the state record. "It's an honor to be here with all these amazing athletes before me," Bredel said when asked about joining the list of past winners. "Thank God and family and all the players and coaches. I couldn't have done it without them. "My teammates are all so, so supportive. Anything I can talk to them about. Great friends and people in general. Coaches have been amazing. There's not a day I don't leave practice without laughing and having so much fun every single time." Her parents are Walter and Cynthia Bredel. "I want to thank the teachers, the staff, the parents — the whole experience here has just been wonderful," Walter said. "I think that kind of helped to grow her from St. Mary School to Elyria Catholic. She's kind of developed into her own now." "She's worked hard, we've never had to push her," Cynthia said. "She's always been very focused, just kind of a parent's dream. From a very young age she was independent but very focused." The Gilgenbach Award has been given to the outstanding senior female athlete at EC since 1976. The award was presented Thursday evening at the annual assembly. Jim Piazza, who took over as athletic director and co-coach of the softball team this year, soon found out just how good Bredel was on the diamond. Piazza won more than 500 games and coached five state championships at Keystone. "It was my pleasure to have the opportunity to meet such a great person," Piazza said. "Annika is what I call a character kid. She gives the same effort in life as she did in the classroom and on the field and on the court. She's top five in her class." "I couldn't think of anyone else more deserving of this award," said Terrell Dixon, the softball co-coach. "She's put her heart and soul into her daily preparation and that starts in the classroom and extends to the court and on the field. Annika is an outstanding person, a tremendous leader and a great teammate." Bredel was also a big-time basketball player, leading the Panthers to the district finals in the winter. She eclipsed 1,000 points and was named second-team All-Ohio for the second straight season. She'll continue her softball career at the University of Findlay. Don't be surprised if the Oilers invite her to play basketball, as well. "Annika is one of the best all-around athletes ever to attend Elyria Catholic," basketball coach Eric Rothgery said. "Her phenomenal work ethic, from her first practice till her last, was inspiring to her teammates and coaches. She's a great player, an awesome young woman." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Ron and Janet Gilgenbach Outstanding Female Athlete Winners1976 — Anna Farrell1977 — Linda Zemanek1978 — Mary Ann Kobb1979 — Patty Diedrick1980 — Mary Farrell1981 — Ellen Borowy1982 — Diane Schmitz1983 — Linda Machovina1984 — Christina Arnold1985 — Carrie Cummons1986 — Niki Boyson1987 — Lisa Horvath1988 — Rebecca Yarish1989 — Colleen Wukie1990 — Lisa Ivkanec1991 — Julie Deeks1992 — Sheila Wilford1993 — Laurie Seward1994 — Angela Schneider1995 — Kim Kenney1996 — Jessica Patton1997 — Jennifer DeChant1998 — Rachel Serazin1999 — Jennifer Ruth2000 — Catherine Geletka2001 — Megan Fiore2002 — Jennifer Thompson2003 — Stacey Laveen2004 — Kileen Lehman2005 — Danielle Bozicevich2006 — Lauren Beck2007 — Paige Samek2008 — Katie Svat2009 — Evann Heidersbach2010 — Zoe Zwegat2011 — Ashley Schuster2012 — Taylor Sustersic2013 — Lauren Wisnor2014 — Danielle Dziak2015 — Sarah Ziegelmeyer2016 — Riley Schill2017 — Samantha Filiaggi 2018 — Megan Scheibelhut2019 — Regan Schill2020 — Meghan Jancsura2021 — Alexis Szalai2022 — Annika Bredel