Thirty-six seniors up for Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete Excellence Award

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, April 21, 2018 | 9:00 PM

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Here's a look at the 36 seniors who are in the running for the annual Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete Excellence Award.

A male and female winner will be honored April 24 at Ferrante's Lakeview in Hempfield.

BELLE VERNON

Bailey Parshall

Sport: softball

QPA: 3.65

Class rank: 88 of 183

Did you know? Parshall will attend Penn State to play softball. … She teaches young girls how to pitch. … She owns school records for strikeouts, shutouts and wins.

Derek Thomas

Sport: football

QPA: 4.112

Class rank: 36 of 183

Did you know? Thomas will attend Walsh University. … He served as class President four years and also was President of the Interact Club and prom committee. … He was captain of the football team.

BURRELL

Zachary Gimbel

Sports: basketball, soccer

QPA: 4.17

Class rank: 12 of 129

Did you know? Gimbel will attend Pitt. … He was captain of the soccer team his senior season. … He is a caddy at Oakmont Country Club.

Micaela Crawford

Sports: tennis, cross country, track

QPA: 4.257

Class rank: 4 of 129

Did you know? Crawford will attend Duquesne. … She was a member of the marching and concert bands. … She was part of the Students for Christ and drama clubs.

DERRY AREA

Chelsea Bisi

Sports: softball, volleyball

QPA: 101.74

Class rank: 1 of 152

Did you know? Bisi will be attending Penn State to play softball. … She received Academic Excellence from the National Honor Society.

Isaac Buterbaugh

Sport: golf, swimming, baseball

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: 28 of 152

Did you know? Buterbaugh plans to attend Gannon. … He earned distinguished honors for four years. … He helped the Derry golf team reach the WPIAL playoffs three consecutive seasons.

FRANKLIN REGIONAL

Sophia Hudson

Sport: soccer

QPA: 4.36

Class rank: 21 of 314

Did you know? Hudson plans to attend Lafayette College. … She was the soccer team captain her junior and senior seasons. … She traveled to Italy for an international soccer tournament.

Nathan Leopold

Sport: football, basketball

QPA: 3.9

Class rank: 87 of 314

Did you know? Leopold plans to attend John Carroll. … He also had offers from IUP and Mercyhurst. … He was named MVP of the football team in 2017 and holds the school record for blocked extra points and field goals.

GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC

Sydney Ward

Sport: soccer, basketball, track

QPA: 4.2

Class rank: 18 of 72

Did you know? Ward will attend Akron and will play soccer. … She is a volunteer at Christ United Methodist Church. … She is the President of the French Honor Society. … She is a volunteer at Children's Hospital.

Ethan Slike

Sport: football, basketball, soccer

QPA: 4.235

Class rank: 12 of 72

Did you know? Slike will attend Akron. … He helped raise $4,000 in support of Kick-it-for-Cancer. … He is the business owner of Slike's Lawn Service. … He was a volunteer for the Westmoreland County Food Bank

GREENSBURG SALEM

Jesse Quatse

Sport: wrestling

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: 1 of 178

Did you know? Quatse will wrestle for Penn. … He also had offers from Seton Hill, Mercyhurst and American. … He was a mentor and coach of the Junior Olympic wrestlers. … He placed fourth in the 2018 PIAA and WPIAL tournaments. … He is a member of the Guitar Club.

Brooke Smith

Sport: Swimming

QPA: 3.3

Class rank: 4 of 178

Did you know? Smith plans to attend High Point. … She was a WPIAL qualifier three years in the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle. … She was a lifeguard at the YMCA and Lynch Field.

HEMPFIELD

Allison Podkul

Sport: basketball, volleyball, softball

QPA: 95.9 percent

Class rank: 70 of 460

Did you know? Podkul will attend Grove City to play basketball. … She was the leading scorer for the basketball team her senior season. … She was co-captain for the volleyball and basketball teams. … She was a volunteer coach for Youngwood Recreation and at Hempfield basketball camps.

Justin Sliwoski

Sport: football, basketball, baseball

QPA: 3.9

Class rank: 50 of 460

Did you know? Sliwoski will walk on to play football at Pitt. … He is the President of STEM group. … He was the captain of the football and basketball teams. … He was a volunteer at the food bank.

JEANNETTE

Chloe Stein

Sport: soccer, basketball, softball

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: 2 of 52

Did you know? Stein will attend Edinboro. … She was a member of the concert and marching bands. … Her senior project was a fundraiser for the American Heart Association. … She was the vice president of the art club.

Jake Mortimore

Sport: golf, baseball, soccer

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: 1 of 52

Did you know? Mortimore will attend Saint Vincent. … He was captain of the golf team and earned the Superior Effort Award for the soccer team. … He was a member of the marching, concert and jazz bands. … His senior project was a drug and alcohol awareness tailgate event.

KISKI AREA

Daniel Starr

Sport: wrestling

QPA: 100.03 (100 scale)

Class rank: 18 of 295

Did you know? Staff will attend Penn State. … He helped the Cavaliers will consecutive WPIAL team wrestling titles. … He is a member of the church hand bell choir. … He works on the family farm and is a farm crew supervisor and team safety manager.

Erin Weaver

Sport: volleyball, softball

QPA: 98.84

Class rank: 28 of 295

Did you know? Weaver will play softball at Pitt-Greensburg. … She is President of the Cavalier leadership council. … She is a member of the jazz, show and cavalier choir.

LATROBE

Taylor Miller

Sport: diving, tennis, track

QPA: 3.82

Class rank: 54 of 320

Did you know? Miller plans to attend Ohio University. … She plans on studying nursing. … She was captain of the swimming and tennis teams and a member of the homecoming court. … She owns two school records in diving.

Jason Armstrong

Sport: football, basketball

QPA: 3.3

Class rank: 133 of 320

Did you know? Armstrong plans to attend Mercyhurst to play football. … He volunteers at the Salvation Army. … He also is a part of Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

LIGONIER VALLEY

Robby Patrick

Sport: wrestling, track

QPA: 3.57

Class rank: 44 of 129

Did you know? Patrick will wrestler at Virginia. … He had other offers from Pitt, Kent State, Cornell and Lehigh. … He volunteers to pick up trash around the community and his summer job is cutting grass. … He was a three-time PIAA Class AA runner-up and a four-time District 6 and Southwest Regional champion.

Abigail Turcheck

Sport: softball, swimming

QPA: 4.04

Class rank: 1 of 129

Did you know? Turcheck will attend Arizona State: Barrett, the Honors College. … She also had offers from Central Florida, Alabama, Houston and Texas. … She was the President of the National Honor Society. … She received the 2017 Bausch & Lomb Science Award.

MONESSEN

Cory Fleming

Sport: basketball, baseball, soccer

QPA: 4.59

Class rank: 1 of 52

Did you know? Fleming plans to attend Westminster to play baseball. … He is the President of his class and National Honor Society. … He scored more than 100 points in soccer.

Dana Vatakis

Sport: softball, soccer

QPA: 3.84

Class rank: 7 of 52

Did you know? Vatakis will attend Robert Morris to play softball. … She is a member of the National and Spanish Honor societies. … She is the winningest pitcher in school history and is the strikeout leader.

MT. PLEASANT

Benjamin Bailey

Sport: soccer

QPA: 4.25

Class rank: 3 of 167

Did you know? Bailey plans to attend Pitt-Greensburg to play soccer. … He was captain of the soccer team his junior and senior seasons. … He also is a recreational coach and is a dietary aide at Harmon House.

LynnJoelle Gardner

Sport: swimming

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: 16 of 167

Did you know? Gardner will be attending Cal (Pa.). … She was vice president of the student government. … She is a lifeguard at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center. … She was a member of the record-holding 400 freestyle relay team.

NORWIN

Maria Santilli

Sport: tennis

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: 20 of 425

Did you know? Santilli will be playing tennis at Cincinnati. … She was the WPIAL champion in 2016 and ‘17 and PIAA champion in 2016. She placed third in 2017. … She is a high school All-American.

Magen Polczynski

Sport: basketball, field hockey, track, lacrosse

QPA: 4.2

Class rank: 14 of 425

Did you know? Polczynski will attend Westminster and plans to play basketball and lacrosse. … She has earned 13 letters at Norwin. … She was one of the organizers for the Interact Club's “You've Got A Friend Day,” which focuses on children with disabilities.

PENN-TRAFFORD

John Gay IV

Sport: football, track

QPA: 3.68

Class rank: 147 of 356

Did you know? Gay will attend the U.S. Air Force Academy and play football. … He also received offers from Navy, Cornell, Howard and Robert Morris. … He was a Tribune-Review Terrific 25 player.

Sydney Smith

Sport: field hockey, swimming

QPA: 4.445

Class rank: 9 of 335

Did you know? Smith plans to attend Gannon. … She has volunteered at Allegheny General Surgical Center and Magee Women's Hospital. … She attended open heart surgery at Allegheny General her freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years. … She is part of the Penn-Trafford Gifted Program.

SOUTHMORELAND

Ryan Lemmon

Sport: golf

QPA: 3.6667

Class rank: 40 of 143

Did you know? Ryan will attend Cal (Pa.). … He placed ninth at the Westmoreland County Coaches' Association golf tournament. … He volunteers as a youth ministry director at church and has gone on mission trips. … He is an assistant Sunday school teacher.

Kaylee Farino

Sport: track

QPA: 3.7

Class rank: 14 of 143

Did you know? Farino will run track at Walsh. … She owns the course records (old course and new course) in cross country. … She is a two-time Red, White and Blue Class AA champion. … She's was a PIAA qualifier.

VALLEY

Daniel Antonacci

Sport: baseball, soccer

QPA: 4.10

Class rank: 6 of 121

Did you know? Antonacci will attend Pitt. … He played baseball four years and soccer three years. … He's part of the French Club and Ping Pong Club. … He's been on high honors four years.

Madison Hill

Sport: swimming, basketball, volleyball, track

QPA: 4.231

Class rank: 1 of 121

Did you know? Hill will attend either Saint Vincent or Juniata. … She is an alter server at church, teaches swimming lessons and helps special needs children. … She's also a lifeguard.

YOUGH

Aubrie Mance

Sport: softball

QPA: 4.0

Class rank: 2 of 182

Did you know? Mance will attend Case Western Reserve. … She had the top batting average (.468) during the 2016 season and is close to breaking five school records. … She a member of numerous clubs at the high school.

Montana Olexa

Sport: gymnastics

QPA: 98.7979

Class rank: 7 of 182

Did you know? Olexa will attend Gannon. … She earned a Gannon Academic Merit scholarship. … She is the vice president of the Future is Mine. … She helped organize a fundraiser for a fellow student diagnosed with cancer.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Burrell, Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Hempfield Area, Jeannette, Kiski School, Ligonier Valley, Monessen, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland, Valley, Yough