Cony High School has announced its top 10 seniors for the class of 2023. Top from left are Ayanna Goonesekere, Kameron Douin, Kristin Merrill, Nathan Shedd and Kaitlyn Henry. Bottom from left are Avery Theriault, Emma Brown, Theodore Campbell, Juliette Armstrong and Sage Fortin.

AUGUSTA — Cony High School has named its top 10 students for the class of 2023. Students are listed in rank order.

Ayanna Goonesekere Submitted photo

Ayanna Goonesekere, valedictorian, is the daughter of Thara Kumarage and Ramesh Goonesekere of Augusta. She is a member of the Cony soccer, swim, indoor track and tennis teams. She is also a member of the math team and French club. She plays the alto saxophone in the Cony concert band, pep band and jazz band, participating in Chizzle Wizzle with the jazz band while being a member of the Set Design crew and Executive Committee. Along with her extra-curricular activities, she works at the Maine Local Market and Augusta Civic Center.

Goonesekere was selected to be a member of the Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute and served as the Vice President of the Cony National Honor Society. She was a captain of the girls’ soccer, swim and tennis teams, received the Coaches Award and was named to the KVAC Second Team for indoor track, and Best Teammate Award for tennis. Additionally, she was accepted into the District III Honors Band Festival for two years and received the Louise Armstrong Award for jazz band. She has volunteered with the Capital Area New Mainers Project, Augusta Recreation and Chateau Cushnoc (as a member of NHS).

Ayanna will be attending Princeton University in the fall studying Engineering.

Kameron Douin Submitted photo

Kameron Douin, salutatorian, is the son of Jason and Denise Douin of Augusta. Douin has been an active member of Cony Athletics participating in football (his senior year), soccer, basketball and baseball and was named captain of both the varsity basketball and baseball teams. Douin was selected as the Conference Player of the Year for baseball, and was named to the All-Conference Football 1st Team and All-Conference Baseball 2nd Team. Sports combined with his academics have also earned Kameron Academic All State in Basketball and the Great American Rivalry Series Scholar Athlete awards.

Douin is a member of the NHS, where he has done volunteer work at Chateau Cushnoc and the Cohen Center. He has also donated his time to Altar serving and helping out with the Augusta Little League, Babe Ruth, and Augusta Rec Soccer. Kameron is also an AP Scholar with Honor and a National Merit Scholar Semi-Finalist.

Kameron will be attending Colby College in the fall.

Kristin Merril Submitted photo

Kristen Merrill, First Honor, is the daughter of Chris and Tiffany Merrill of Augusta. Merrill has been an active and important member of Cony’s Chizzle Wizzle, performing as an end in this year’s show and working on the Chizzle Wizzle Executive Committee. Music is a passion for Kristen; she has been a part of the Madrigals, is the president of Chorus and was a District III Honors Music Festival participant. On top of the musical accomplishments, Merrill was also the Varsity Volleyball Captain. Merrill served as the student representative to the School Board for the last few years.

Merrill is also a member of the National Honor Society (secretary) and the Key Club Co-President. She has volunteered at the Food Bank as well as volunteered in Guatemala with Safe Passage.

Some other accolades that Merrill has received are the Brandeis Book Awards, National Choral Awards, MMEA All-State Participant, and she has earned her Spanish Seal of Biliteracy. She attended Dirigo Girls State and was a Girls Nation Senator.

Kristen will be attending Northeastern University on the Boston campus in the Fall to study Public Relations.

Nathan Shedd Submitted photo

Nathan Shedd, Second Honor, is the son of Matt and Staci Shedd from Chelsea. Shedd is a decorated teammate of the varsity wrestling team. He has been a captain as well as earning first place in the 2023 KVAC, first place in regionals and third place in states. He was also chosen to be on the KVAC all conference 1st team, KVAC all-academic team, was the 2023 coaches award recipient and the 2022 teammate of the year. Along with Wrestling, Nathan was also a varsity member of the track & field team participating in discus, shotput and javelin where he was a part of the KVAC Championship Team.

In addition to his athletic accomplishments, Shedd was also a member of the German Club, earned high honors every quarter for all four years of high school, was a Boys State Alternative and a recipient of the 2022 Yale Book award.

Nathan will be attending the College of Engineering and Honors College at the University of Maine Orono to study civil engineering.

Kaitlyn Henry Submitted photo

Kaitlyn Henry is the daughter of Darren Henry and Claribel Henry of Augusta. Henry has participated in soccer and lacrosse for all four years of high school. She has also been an active member of the Spanish club for three years and joined the math team for her senior year. Through being a member of the National Honor Society, Henry has volunteered at the local food bank, Chateau Cushnoc and the Cohen Center. On her own time, Henry also volunteers at Cony concessions stands and is a referee for recreational soccer on the weekends.

Kaitlyn will be attending Wheaton College in the Fall to study Computer Science.

Avery Theriault Submitted photo

Avery Theriault is the daughter of Shon Theriault and Christl Theriault of Augusta. Theriault has been involved with Volleyball during her career at Cony, she has been the team captain for two years, earned the coaches award, 1st team KVAC and player of the year and volunteers/coaches younger girls at a girls volleyball camp, she also is on the Maine Juniors Club Volleyball team. Along with Volleyball, Avery also participated on Indoor and Outdoor track, earning the best teammate award for indoor track.

Avery has been the co-president of Key Club and the Student Council Class President. She was selected as a member of the Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute and the Naval Academy Summer Seminar. As an active member of the NHS, Avery has volunteered at the Augusta Food Bank as well as for the American Legion, where she puts flags on the veterans graves and various Key Club sponsored events.

Theriault has been the recipient of the MPA Principal’s Award, Everett Perkins Award and the St. Michael’s College Book Award. She has also earned her Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish.

Theriault will be attending Marion Military Institute sponsored by the United States Naval Academy Foundations for the U.S Naval Academy Class of 2028.

Emma Brown Submitted photo

Emma Brown is the daughter of Cornelia Brown and Edward Brown of Augusta. Brown has been involved in competitive gymnastics for 11 years and risen to level 8 while earning many state titles and awards. She is also a three-season runner: indoor track, outdoor track and cross country. Brown has earned many awards in regards to running as well: Class B indoor track State Champion, Indoor 400m school record, a captain and best teammate of the cross country team, runner of the year, MVP and KVAC 1st team for indoor track.

Along with her accolades in gymnastics and running, Brown has also involved herself with other clubs within Cony such as Key Club, Outing Club, Concert Band, Latin Club, National Honors Society and participated in Chizzle Wizzle Olios group. Emma has done lots of volunteering at the Viles Arboretum as well as at Decal Gymnastics, and through her involvement with NHS and Key Club she has volunteered at Chateau Cushnoc and the Cohen Center.

Brown has also demonstrated many forms of leadership here at Cony with being chosen for the Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute for four years and has also been a part of the Cohen Institute of Leadership & Public Service. She was the recipient of the Bryn Mawr Book Award.

Brown will be attending Boston College in the fall to major in environmental studies.

Theodore Campbell Steve Scoville

Theodore “Ted” Campbell is the son of Eva Campbell from Augusta. Campbell is a captain of the Cony Quiz team, a member of the outing club and a member of the Chizzle Wizzle Executive Committee. Campbell has been committed to his work in German; he is a member of the German Club and has earned his Seal of Biliteracy, earning the Silver Award for Distinguished Achievement on the 2022 National German Exam. Campbell was the recipient of the Harvard Book Award.

Campbell was nominated as a Dirigo State Delegate, where he served as the House Minority Whip and ensured that the general consensus of the party was being represented. He also chaired the energy committee during his time here at Dirigo State. He was presented as an alternate for the Dirigo Leadership Award.

Ted will be attending University of Southern Maine in the fall to study political science.

Juliette Armstrong Submitted photo

Juliette Armstrong is the daughter of Amy Armstrong and Hugh Michaud Jr. of Augusta. Juliette has volunteered at Kennebec Valley Humane Society. She has made the honor roll every quarter all throughout high school. She has also earned her Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish.

Juliette will be attending a community college in the fall to study accounting.

Sage Fortin Submitted photo

Sage Fortin is the daughter of Michelle Fortin and Mark Fortin of Augusta. Fortin has been on varsity basketball for four years and was team captain this year, and she earned 1st team in the MVC conference in 2020 and 2021 and 2nd team in KVAC for 2022 and honorable mention in 2023. Fortin has also played on the varsity softball team, where she earned 2nd team all-conference in MVC and KVAC for all four years. She also was on the cross country team for all 4 years and each year she qualified for states and was a captain this year.

Fortin has also volunteered 40 hours at Bicentennial Nature Park. She also helps an elderly neighbor with groceries and planting of flowers. Fortin has earned high honors in every term of her high school career.

Sage will be attending Central Maine Community College in the fall for nursing.

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