A total of 10 high school seniors received one more big honor before graduation when they were feted on June 10 at the Section III Scholar Athlete Awards Dinner, held at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena.
From Jordan-Elbridge, Kelsey Soderburg received top honors after a decorated career that included basketball, soccer, softball and lacrosse at J-E that has led her to Colgate University. Tyler May, who is going to SUNY-Cortland, received the male Scholar-Athlete Award, having run cross country and track, with basketball in between.
Marcellus senior Alexandra Bird, who led the Mustangs to sectional titles in soccer and also starred in lacrosse and indoor track, received the sectional scholar-athlete designation with Ben Powers, who took part in three sports – cross country, basketball and lacrosse. Bird is going to William Smith College and Powers is bound for Rochester Institute of Technology.
Solvay senior Mike Nicolini is staying close to home, going to Syracuse University after running indoor and outdoor track and taking the football field for the Bearcats, while Mykayla Perotti, who who played soccer and also ran indoor and outdoor track, is headed for SUNY-Oswego.
From Westhill, Maggie Tripodi received scholar-athlete honors, as she starred in three sports – lacrosse, basketball and soccer – for the Warriors and is going to the University of Connecticut. Ben Walsh, who pitched Westhill’s baseball team to a sectional title in 2012 and threw a no-hitter this spring, is heading across town to Le Moyne College.
Finally, from West Genesee scholar-athlete awards went to Maureen McInerney, a runner in cross country, indoor and outdoor track going to Northeastern University in Boston, and Ryan Homeyer, a soccer and track standout who, like Walsh, will attend Le Moyne.
Held annually, the Section III Scholar Athlete Awards Dinner hands out the most prestigious academic honor the section can bestow.
To be eligible, students have to maintain a grade average of 90 or better and have participated in a varsity sport. Community service and participation in other extracurricular activities are also taken into account.
Of the 143 athlete honored in 2013, 27 of them were ranked at the top of their class and 114 of them ranked in the top 10. More than $6,500 in scholarship money was handed out.
