Whether it was football or basketball, it was near impossible to mention Jon Woodrow without also bringing up Aidan Ledingham. The senior duo was quite the 1-2 punch for Aspen High School this past year, both because of their actual play as well as their leadership in between.
Their success has led them to being named the AHS senior male co-athletes of the year, an award handed out annually and chosen by the high school athletic director and The Aspen Times sports editor.
“I was very proud of both of those two. They exemplified all the stuff we try to make special about athletics at that level,” AHS boys basketball coach Alex Schrempf said. “They committed. They cared. They represented themselves and the guys that they represented constantly with integrity. They are great teammates. They were always team first before self and it was obvious from Day 1.”
In normal years it would have gone to a single male athlete and be presented at the senior sports banquet, but the novel coronavirus pandemic canceled that event, as well as the entire spring sports season. For this reason, AHS athletic director Martha Richards made the pitch to award two per gender for the 2019-20 school year, which were handed out by AHS principal Tharyn Mulberry at the school’s drive-thru scholarship ceremony on May 28.
Maeve McGuire and Charlotte Howie were named the senior female co-athletes of the year.
“It was awesome. I didn’t expect it at all,” Ledingham said of the award. “It was amazing. And to share that with Jonathan, we have that lifelong bond together, which is really cool to have. It’s just cool to be recognized for all the hard work I did in high school.”
Ledingham was a crucial part of the AHS football team’s lines throughout his career, while Woodrow did a little bit of everything, from running back to receiver to linebacker. Both players brought up the same game as their favorite football memory, that being a 20-19 stunner of an upset at mighty Rifle in 2018, when they were juniors.
“That was an incredible feeling with all my friends. It was just a battle the whole game and all muddy at the end,” said Ledingham, who also pointed out the team’s 2017 playoff loss at The Classical Academy, Aspen’s first playoff appearance since 2013.
This entire past season stood out in basketball, where Woodrow and Ledingham were the senior leaders on a starting group that had three underclassmen on it by the end of the season. AHS made the state tournament for the first time since 2014 this past winter, falling to DSST: Byers in the first round.
Despite missing a good chunk of the season because of injury, Woodrow still managed to lead the team in points per game (12.8) and rebounds (9.2), according to MaxPreps. Ledingham was third in scoring and second in rebounding per game.
“We talked to each other right after and were joking about it. We thought it was fun,” Woodrow said of sharing the award with Ledingham. “It’s kind of strange, but the most memorable moments aren’t necessarily on the field but being with the team.”
Neither player did much athletically in the spring. Woodrow had ran track in the past, but didn’t plan on taking part this year, even had the season not been canceled due to coronavirus. Ledingham played one season of baseball in high school.
And going forward, neither will play sports outside of intramurals and possible club teams. For Woodrow, he’s going to follow in his family footsteps and attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He’s been admitted to the business school and tentatively has entrepreneurship and finance in mind as a major.
“I kind of drank the family Kool-Aid. My mom and two of my sisters also went there,” Woodrow said, pointing out his father went to Texas Tech and a lot of his family is from the Houston area. “Just following the trend. But it’s an awesome school, so I’m super, super excited.”
Ledingham will attend New York’s Pace University, which is located on the tip of Manhattan next to the Brooklyn Bridge. Like his father, he plans to pursue a career in acting. Ledingham also has musical talents, as he showed off with his pre-recorded solo shown during the AHS graduation ceremony at Buttermilk.
“I always talked about being an actor, being a movie star,” Ledingham said. “It’s just something I’ve adored my whole life and I wanted to give it a shot because that’s my biggest passion.”
acolbert@aspentimes.com