By TOM WILLIAMS

A dozen girls have been selected as finalists for the Billy Schoppy Award, presented to the athlete from the Cape-Atlantic League Class of 2023 who had the most outstanding high school sports career.

The awards originated in 2001 with Jason Kaye of “The Flagship Resort” in Atlantic City sponsoring them. In 2012, Dave Talarico and “Schoppy’s”, the area’s finest trophy and award creator, became the sponsor. And in 2017 the award was changed to The Billy Schoppy Award as a memorial to Billy Schoppy, the son of William Schoppy, who created the business 1921.

This year’s 12 finalists are from 10 different CAL schools and were selected based on their four years of high school sports. Previous winners have included single-sport athletes who were dominant and athletes who played two, three or four sports with success. A complete list of previous winners, plus finalists for each previous year, is available HERE.

The 2023 finalists are, in alphabetical order:

MADDIE ABBOTT (Holy Spirit), lacrosse, soccer, swimming. Headed to Radford.

QUANIRAH CHERRY-MONTAGUE (Atlantic City), nationally ranked basketball player. Headed to Mississippi State.

DREW COYLE (Our Lady of Mercy), soccer, basketball, lacrosse. Headed to Kean.

CIARA DiMAURO (Middle Township), soccer, basketball, track. She will attend Clarion.

LEAH HOWARD (Millville), nationally ranked track athlete. Headed to Texas Tech.

MACIE JACQUET (St. Joseph), hockey, basketball, softball, soccer. Headed to Towson.

CARLY MURPHY (Wildwood Catholic), soccer, basketball. Will attend Swarthmore.

KIRA MURRAY (Holy Spirit), field hockey, basketball, lacrosse. Headed to FDU-Florham.

EMMA PERETTI (Hammonton), soccer, basketball, track. Headed to Yale.

TORI VLIET (Ocean City), soccer, basketball. Going to Valdosta State.

CARLEY VOLKMANN (Our Lady of Mercy), soccer, swimming, lacrosse. Headed to East Carolina.

MAKA WOKOCHA (Absegami), soccer, basketball, track. Headed to Georgian Court.

The winner will be announced on June 13 at Prime Events annual CAL Celebration in the Ocean City Music Pier auditorium. The event is sponsored by The City of Ocean City, Gillian’s Wonderland Pier, the Ocean City Free Public Library, the Ocean City PBA, Rodio Catering, Sixth Street Pizza & Grill and the Ocean City Firefighters,

The names of the 12 boys finalists will be released Wednesday.