SACRAMENTO, Calif. – St. Francis' All-Delta League singles player Norah Zhou earned the Scholar-Athlete Award, while Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President Teaghan Brostrom and Vice President Olivia Mlikotin were recognized for the leadership and service, respectively, as the SF Booster Club honors were announced at the school's overall senior awards ceremony Tuesday.
Additionally, Zhou's tennis team won the Varsity Team GPA accolade, with Troubadour volleyball garnering the Sub-Varsity Team GPA honor. The five Booster Club awards were among a sizable slate of awards presented at the annual ceremony. They included honors for the four SFHS pillars – Faith, Excellence, Leadership, Service – plus merit awards for each of the school's academic subject areas.
The ceremony also culminates a year in which the SF valedictorian and salutatorian come from Troubie athletics rosters. Tennis player and lacrosse goalkeeper Hayley Labia was announced in March as 2022-23 valedictorian with Brostrom as the class salutatorian.
Zhou played four years of varsity tennis at St. Francis, capping her career with a senior season that included a semifinal berth in the Delta League individual singles tournament and the team's Excellence Award. As a team, the Troubies advanced a round into the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, with Zhou picking up a 6-0, 6-0 "double bagel" victory at No. 2 singles in the October 31 postseason match against Gregori. She will study electrical and computer engineering at UC San Diego this fall.
Brostrom wraps up her fourth season on the St. Francis swim team. She is one of 22 Troubies to qualify for this week's Sac-Joaquin Section championship meet, having helped SF capture its first league championship in eight years. Brostrom advanced to the championship final in the 500-yard freestyle while winning the 200 free consolation final at the Delta League championship. Besides her leadership with SAAC, the Syracuse-bound Brostrom serves as the co-anchor for the weekly Troubie TV show, her class mascot, and host of the SF alumnae podcast, Troubie Throwbacks.
Zhou and Brostrom follow cross country Cate Joaquin and softball player Grace Jenkins as recipients of the Scholar-Athlete and Leadership awards, respectively.
Mlikotin received the Charles Chan Spirit of Service Award. While better known to Troubie sports fans as the hard-hitting outside hitter who helped the Troubadours advance to the SJS Division I title match, she is largely regarded at St. Francis for her leadership and – as the award suggests – service. Like Brostrom, Mlikotin finishes her second year as an at-large representative to SAAC, taking over as the group's veep for 2022-23. Outside of the classroom and court, she devoted nearly 300 of service hours in 2022-23 alone – almost 10 times that of the required number for SF seniors. A majority of her efforts went to tutoring children at the Oak Park Community Center, which was also the beneficiary for SAAC's collection of donated sports equipment. Mlikotin previously participated in service trips to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, compiling a grand total of 562 volunteer hours in her four years.
