by Brian Merewitz

The St. Ledger Award was created by Will St. Ledger in 2005, passed to Shannon St. Ledger in 2007, but with the lack of another St. Ledger, I have been granted the privilege of writing this column.

The St. Ledger Award is given to an outstanding athlete in every issue of the Hurricane Nation.  This athlete should be a male or female that highly demonstrates athletic and academic excellence throughout the course of each issue. This issue’s winner of the St. Ledger Award is none other than senior Dave Stanley.

Dave Stanley has seen both academic and athletic success.  He starts as a wide receiver for the varsity football team and was the only receiver to finish last year without a single missed catch.  In the spring, Dave participates in Track & Field.  The fields are only one of the venues where Stanley succeeds. Academically, Stanley sees a great deal of success as well.

  Stanley has been able to maintain a cumulative GPA of 97.2%, having no lower than a 101.2% last year.  He has been able to keep up this GPA, while continuing to challenge himself.  Since sophomore year, Stanley has enrolled in 7 AP courses, including Calculus II and Chemistry.  In his sophomore year, Stanley was awarded the Pre-Calculus award, but his success doesn’t end at the last bell.

After school, Stanley continues his success on both the football field and the track.  He has run track every spring so far, which is a varsity sport.  Stanley received a varisty letter as only a freshman.  In the fall, many students have seen football’s number 80 catching passes, as he is a starting wide receiver.  Dave played freshman for one year, junior varsity for a year, and is now in his second year of varsity football.

  Many students would wonder how senior Dave Stanley can keep up with the rigors of his schoolwork, when devoting so much time to athletics.  He claims that, “It’s important to keep the same concept from the field to schoolwork then back. Some nights you are just swarmed with work, but it’s important to find a way to get it all done, even sometimes doing it throughout the school day. You can’t just blow it off, or else it will call for a late night staring at the black and white pages. You just have to find a way to get your job done.” This is how Dave Stanley has been able to excel both in the classroom, on the field, and on the track. 

If you think you know a student worthy of this award, email his or her name to thehno@gmail.com.