VERMONT — The Vermont Sports Media Association has named Champlain Valley Union High School’s Autumn Eastman as its High School Female Athlete of the Year and Rochester High’s Pavin Parrish as its Male High School Athlete of the Year.
Eastman, a standout three-season performer, and Parrish, the highest-scoring basketball player in Vermont high school history, were elected by VSMA members from among all the winners of the VSMA’s High School Athlete of the Month honors between September 2013 and June 2014. Local monthly winners were current Middlebury Union senior Austin Robinson for football and MUHS graduate Sara Boe for ice hockey.
VSMA President Josh Kaufmann of the St. Albans Messenger announced the results of statewide voting of the organization’s membership on Monday afternoon.
Eastman and Parrish will be invited to a plaque presentation during the 2014 Vermont Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner and ceremony, to be held on Nov. 15 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Burlington on Williston Road in South Burlington. 
Information and ticket information about that event may be found by logging onto www.vermontsportshall.com or by e-mailing [email protected].
GIRLS’ WINNER
Eastman, a three-sport athlete who graduated from CVU this past spring, originally earned monthly honors for her undefeated cross-country performance in September 2013. But she excelled not only in that sport, but also in Nordic skiing and track and field. She was named both the Gatorade Vermont girls’ cross-country runner of the year and, for the second time, the Gatorade Vermont girls’ track and field performer of the year.
In cross country, Eastman captured the Division I title by nearly 50 seconds, placed second at the Manhattan Invitational in New York City, and took third at the New England meet and the Northeast Regionals, performances that qualified her for the national high school championship meet, where she placed 16th.
In Nordic skiing, Eastman took first in freestyle and second in classic at the D-I Nordic state championships; helped Team Vermont win at the Eastern championships with a pair of top-10 results, including a third in the 5-kilometer race; and qualified for and competed at the Junior National championships, which were held in Stowe in March.
In outdoor track and field, Eastman won at 1,500, 800 and 3,000 meters at the D-I state championship meet, broke a 22-year meet record in the 800 at the Burlington Invitational, became the first Vermont girl to break 10 minutes in the 3,000 since Mount Mansfield’s Erin Sullivan in 1999, and took second in New England in the 3,200 (10:36.16).
BOYS’ WINNER
The VSMA first honored Parrish for his efforts in March, when he broke the all-time Vermont high school basketball scoring record by pouring in 45 points in a D-IV semifinal in the Barre Auditorium. He needed 43 points going into the game to tie St. Johnsbury Academy graduate Henry Dalrymple’s 30-year-old record of 2,477 points.
Parrish, who will play basketball at Castleton State College this winter, was named the Vermont Gatorade Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year, and the Vermont Basketball Coaches Association named him its Player of the Year.
This past season for Rochester High, Parrish averaged 31 points per game, 14.5 rebounds, 8.6 assists and 5.2 steals while maintaining an A average in the classroom and serving as the senior class president. His 45 points in Barre tied for the second-best output ever recorded for boys’ basketball at the Barre Auditorium.
This spring, Parrish led Rochester to its first-ever golf state championship appearance as the No. 1 golfer on the Rocket team. He won medalist honors in three separate competitions this spring, and finished one stroke off the lead in a fourth.
The VSMA’s sponsor of its Athlete of the Month program is Initial Ideas of Rutland.
More information about the VSMA is available from Kaufmann at [email protected].