Kori Carter and Simon Dowd earned the 2018-2019 Suffolk News-Herald Spring Female and Male Player of the Year awards.

Both athletes saw themselves win state titles with their respective teams while also earning a great deal of accolades throughout the spring. Carter had a monster season for the Nansemond River High School track and field team, as did Dowd with the Nansemond-Suffolk Academy boys’ lacrosse team.

Carter, a Team WAR standout, finished her spring season taking the state title in the 100-meter hurdle and the 300-meter hurdle, while helping Team WAR take the state title in the 4×400 relay. In a come-from-behind victory effort as a team, Carter was the catalyst in helping WAR achieve its 11th state championship.

With the accolades that came with Carter’s performances throughout the year, she was ecstatic to have been selected the SNH’s Spring Female Player of the Year.

“All the accolades motivate me,” she said. “Virginia is filled with so much talent. So, to be recognized and noticed for things I’ve accomplished motivates me to do better. Now I want to continue to achieve more things at the next level.”

Looking back on her senior season, Carter felt like it went well for her. Her career at Nansemond River turned her into a national star being sought after by the top track and field college programs in the country. She is grateful to have been a part of Team WAR.

“Looking back, I never would have thought I was going to have the amount of success that I had,” she said. “Being a National Champion and an All-American has caught me by surprise. Just being a state champion as many times as I have been has also been a blessing.”

Carter is already at Clemson University, where she is preparing to run track.

Dowd, now a rising senior at NSA, had a junior year to be remembered. As a standout on the boys’ lacrosse team, he helped NSA win its first state title in the program’s history back in May. He scored one goal that game, but for the season he was a first team All-Conference and a first team All-State performer for NSA. He was also named a US Lacrosse All-American. He was also grateful to represent NSA as the SNH Spring Male Player of the Year.

“I’m happy with how the season went for my team and for myself,” he said. “My main goal was to win a state championship, and we accomplished that, so I felt like I did my job along with everyone else on the team. I’m just honored to be recognized for the accolades I’ve received.”

Just because NSA won a title this year, Dowd isn’t satisfied. He has already started visualizing next season, in which NSA should be returning the majority of its contributors. Even though Dowd has been getting recognized this season, he always wants his focus to be on the team’s success. Dowd and his brothers, Noah and Eli, have had a great deal of success in lacrosse for NSA

Dowd is currently preparing for his senior year at NSA.