(L-R) Chuck Barnes (Masters Swimming), Kali Denty (Pickleball), Mena Sheth (Swimming), Daniel Gao (Fencing)

Bay State Games is excited to announce they have selected its Athletes of the Year. This award is based on participation in the Games and other athletic achievements. The 2023 selections for Athlete of the Year are:

Female Youth Athlete – Mena Sheth

Female Adult Athlete – Kali Denty

Male Youth Athlete – Daniel Gao

Male Adult Athlete - Chuck Barnes

Mena Sheth, 14, is a rising sophomore at Concord Carlisle High School. One of her great passions in life is swimming. She won two bronze medals in butterfly and backstroke at the 2023 Bay State Games in Wellesley, MA.

Mena has been swimming competitively for over a decade. At age 4, Mena became the youngest swimmer on the Concord Otters Swim Team. As she became more senior on the team, she earned the Coaches Award for her sportsmanship and team spirit. She also coaches the younger swimmers as a volunteer. She now swims for her high school team, as well as the North Shore Swim Club. During spring, she plays lacrosse for her high school team. Mena is also an honors student.

Outside of sports, Mena is a published author. During the pandemic, she wrote a middle grade science fiction novel entitled “Project Apollo,” which was published in November 2022. Thereafter, in May 2023, she was invited to a Simon & Schuster authors' convention in New York City, where her book was on display. Additionally, this year, Mena was a speaker for her mother's judicial swearing-in ceremony, alongside a State Senator and a State Representative. She spoke before a packed, standing-room-only audience of judges, elected officials, and attorneys.

Mena is currently training to be a guide for disabled athletes through the Boston chapter of Achilles International, a nonprofit organization that provides racing opportunities for adults and children with disabilities. Additionally, this summer, Mena swam a one-mile open-water challenge in the Boston Harbor hosted by Swim Across America, to benefit Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Mena’s coach at North Shore Swim Club, David Martin, describes her as an athlete who "demonstrates confidence every day at practice and swim meets. She is a swimmer and teammate you can count on to do the right thing in all situations. Mena is extremely well liked by her teammates and coaches. She manages her swimming, academics, family and other activities at the highest level."

Kali Denty is 25 years old and has played in Bay State Games pickleball for the last 2 years and played in the Girls Soccer Showcase when she was in high school. In 2023, Kali won silver in both the women’s and mixed doubles event. While in high school, she was the starting goalkeeper and helped the Southeast team to back-to-back gold medals in the Girls Soccer Showcase.

Kali began playing soccer at age three, and first played goalkeeper at age five. Kali played Galway Rovers U17 Elite Division I Maple League. When she was 11, she played for the Massachusetts Olympic Development team as a U14, and each summer she earned a spot on the Massachusetts District Select team. In high school, she was the starting goalkeeper for all 4 years and served as team captain for two years. In addition to soccer, Kali played softball and ice hockey in high school and won the best athlete award as a senior. In college, Kali was named Rookie of the Year for the women’s soccer team. She was named All-Conference and All-Academic in soccer and softball all 4 years. Kali was recruited to play semi-pro soccer in Italy last year and earn her master's. At her first scrimmage, she was recruited to play professional soccer.     

Outside of sports, Kali has volunteered with patients with Alzheimer's, Meals on Wheels, and Dream Day (children with terminal illnesses). She has also volunteered to coach youth soccer.

With all her accomplishments, community service, volunteering, and athletic and academic awards, she has done all of this with a brain tumor. Kali had a severe migraine, vision issues, and other medical issues for the past five years. She persevered, still played sports, graduated college, earned her master's, and played professional soccer in horrible pain, and still gave so much to others. She had the tumor removed in April 2023. Nine days after major brain surgery, she was back on the pickleball court.

Daniel Gao is a native of Weston, MA and a rising senior at Weston High School. Daniel won gold in the 2023 Bay State Games Fencing competition in Junior Men’s Epee. Daniel has been fencing for just 3 years and has racked up a long list of accomplishments. After only three and a half years, Daniel has become one of the top-rated fencers in America, with his highest rankings including 7th nationally at the Cadet level. This year, he was also the top regional point scorer in the Northeast region. Daniel has gained multiple national medals and has represented Team USA to compete in 6 designated international competitions in his short fencing career. He most recently won two gold medals for the U.S. in the 2023 Pan American Championships held in Bogota, Columbia. He also placed 7^th at the 2023 Summer National Championships in Div1A and won the bronze medal at the 2023 Junior Olympics Junior team competition. Daniel has competed at many other national and international fencing competitions including the 2023 January North American Cup, 2023 Raleigh Super Junior/Cadet Circuit, 2022 Pan American Championship held in Peru, 2022 Slovakia European Cadet Circuit, 2022 Krakow European Cadet Circuit, 2022 Grenoble European Cadet Circuit, and 2022 Belgrade European Cadet Circuit.

Daniel is the chair of the Weston Student Corp and has led community service in multiple events such as volunteering in the 2023 Asia-Pacific Festival Celebration, making New Year cards for the senior center, and volunteering in the Weston Mid-Autumn Festival. He is also a volunteer English Tutor for high school students in China, a tutor in the Key Club, a teaching assistant for the Chinese American Youth Association online camp, and a volunteer who makes handmade hats and scarves in the winter for people in need. As a percussionist, he also volunteered to perform holiday music for the Avalon Senior Center.

His coach, Qibing Wang, says Daniel is one of the hardest working and most promising athletes he has ever seen. “[Daniel} always exceeds my expectations with his athletic ability, work ethic, and spirit. Throughout my years as a fencer and as a coach, I have never witnessed a faster growing fencer than Daniel, as he rose to an A rating within 6 months of becoming an E rated fencer.” Wang continues, “[Daniel] is at the club during all open hours and is always the last fencer to leave the strip. He also impresses me because he maintains strong grades and test scores in difficult classes despite his intense practicing, independent conditioning and traveling.” His coach adds, “He truly loves the sport…for the athleticism, tactics, and features that make fencing unique.”

Chuck Barnes is a resident of Seekonk, MA and has competed in Bay State Games Masters Swimming for 2 years. He has won a gold medal in every race he has competed in, and in many cases has out-raced swimmers 20 years younger than him. He holds 7 BSG records in the men’s 35-49 age group, 5 of which he set at the 2023 Masters Swimming competition.

In high school, Chuck set the Massachusetts state record in the 100 butterfly and in the 100 yard backstroke. He finished his career with 6 state titles and was Catholic Conference MVP for all 4 years. He was inducted into the Boston College High School Hall of Fame in 2014.

Chuck went on to have an illustrious swimming career at Brown University, where he was inducted into the school’s athletics hall of fame in 2006. Graduating in 1999, he held team records in 5 different events, many of which stood for 15+ years. He was also named the Ivy League’s Most Valuable Swimmer for three straight years and was recognized as a Top 100 Athlete of the century at Brown.

Barnes was named the team’s MVP all four of his years at Brown and served as captain his senior year in 1999. He is just the second Brown swimmer to earn the Phil Moriarty Award at the Eastern Championships and holds the most Eastern Championship Titles in Brown history, racking up seven throughout his career.

After graduating from Brown, Barnes continued training and qualified for the 2000 Olympic Trials in the 100 back, 200 back, 100 fly, and 200 free. He finished 12^th in the 200 backstroke. After finishing his swimming career, Barnes competed in triathlons and placed 37th in the world's largest in Chicago.

Over the last few years, Chuck has also made waves in US Masters Swimming. He has broken 12 USMS records and currently holds 9 records in the men’s 45-49 age group. He has earned 9 USMS All-American honors (5 individual, 4 relay). In October, he will be inducted into the New England Masters Swimming (NELMSC) Hall of Fame.

When not in the pool, Chuck is the president of a real estate and appraisal company.

Individuals chosen as Bay State Games Athlete of the Year were also submitted for recognition as the National State Games Athlete of the Year. The winners will be announced in late September. The other National Athlete of the Year recipients will be recognized at the National Congress of State Games annual symposium on October 4 at the SportsTravel Awards Luncheon in West Palm Beach, Florida.

For more information on the Bay State Games Athlete of the Year program and past winners, go to www.baystategames.org/AOY.