The FCIAC has begun a new Exemplary Scholar Athlete of the Month award. Each school will recognize two senior student athletes per season who have both high academic standing and demonstrate leadership qualities.
Each school will still have the opportunity to recognize a seasonal scholar athlete for each sport at the end of the season.
Luke Bender – Fairfield Warde – Wrestling
Luke, who is on track to being his class valedictorian, has earned his varsity letter all four years and has twice made All-FCIAC Honorable Mention.
He received the University of Rochester Xerox Award for innovation during his junior year and was recipient of the Latin Excellence Award during his sophomore and junior years.
Luke is president of the Latin and Investment Club and he volunteers at a center for people with autism.
Meaghan Lavelle – Westhill – Basketball
Meaghan has a weighted GPA of 4.85 while taking mostly AP and Honors courses throughout her four-year high school career and she will graduate among the top five percent of her class this June.
She is a four-year member of Westhill’s girls basketball program and a senior team captain this year.
Meaghan is a member of the National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society, she is an AP Scholar with Honor and a recipient of the Holy Cross Junior Book Award.
She has participated in Mission Trips to Appalachia and is a volunteer youth basketball coach with the Stamford Youngtimers.
Brian Dineen – St. Joseph – Basketball
This senior captain and four-year member of both the boys basketball and cross country teams has registered a 3.9 GPA while taking AP and Honors Classes and made the President’s Honor Roll.
Brian also volunteers much time to several community organizations. He has received the President’s Award for service for giving about 200 service hours per year as Coordinator of Food and Needs Drives at Blessed Sacrament in Bridgeport.
Molly Murray – Trinity Catholic – Basketball
Molly, who was among the youngsters featured in Stamford Magazine in its Top Teens to Watch article, is a National Honor Society member with an unweighted GPA of 3.52.
She has been a four-year member and a senior team captain for both the girls volleyball and girls basketball programs and last year as a junior she made All-FCIAC Honorable Mention in girls basketball.
Molly has received the Cornell Book Award, Mary Kay Smith Award and was a finalist for the prestigious Mickey Lione Jr. Scholarship.
This future student at the College of Holy Cross has also been a member of the Ambassadors Club and Business Club and a participant in the Stock Market Challenge.
Alyssa Kraus – Fairfield Ludlowe – Indoor Track
This versatile senior three-sport athlete with the 4.0 GPA while taking mostly AP and Honors Classes is a member of the National Honor Society, Math National Honor Society and Science National Honor Society.
Alyssa has excelled as a member of the field hockey team in the fall, the girls indoor track and field team in the winter and outdoor track team in the spring, having served as a senior co-captain for both the field hockey and indoor track teams.
She made the FCIAC All-East Field Hockey Team this past fall after been FCIAC Honorable during her sophomore and junior years. This winter she made All-FCIAC with her runner-up finish in the 1,000-meter run and that was her first all-conference honor as an individual after having been All-FCIAC as one of the four members of relay teams in previous last year (Sprint Medley indoors, 4×400 and 4×800 outdoors).
Emily Grenier – Danbury – Girls Basketball
This High Honor Roll student-athlete with a 4.591 GPA is ranked ninth out of the 627 students in the Danbury High School Class of 2018.
Emily is also treasurer of her class.
She is a four-year basketball player, she received the DHS Student-Athlete Award for the 2017 volleyball season, and has been a senior team captain for both the girls volleyball and girls basketball teams.
Emily was accepted to the National Honor Society and into Peer Leadership, she’s a recipient of the Vassar College Book Award, and a member of the BOG executive council and Saint Joseph Church youth group.
Sarah Helms – Brien McMahon – Girls Indoor Track
Sarah is a versatile three-sport athlete with a cumulative GPA of 3.89 by having made High Honors all four years.
She played for the varsity girls soccer team all four years, is on the girls indoor track and field team this winter, and this coming spring she will be a senior co-captain in her third year with the girls tennis team.
Sarah received the “Student of the Marking Period” Principal’s Award for the fourth marking period of 2017. And she is Co-President of the Bkind Club.
Jessica Lipinski – Trumbull – Girls Basketball
This senior has had significant success in the classroom and as a three-sport athlete.
She is a High Honor Roll student with a lofty 4.69 GPA while taking mostly AP and Honors classes.
Jessica is a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta (Mathematics Honor Society), and a recipient of the George Eastman Young Leaders Award.
Jessica was captain of the field hockey team this past fall. She is a member of the girls basketball team, including last year when Trumbull won the FCIAC championship and was runner-up in the state Class LL tournament. She is also a member of the girls outdoor track and field team during the spring season.
She is a member of the Student Council, DECA Club, Model UN and Peer Mediation.
Jessica also volunteers for several community organizations such as TOPSoccer, the Trumbull Youth Field Hockey Camp, and Trumbull Youth Girls Basketball camps and clinics.
She tutors high school and middle school students and works at the AYSO Snack Booth for the Trumbull High School Booster Club.
Brooke Kelly – Stamford – Girls Basketball
This young lady who attends the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering is the total package in that she she has excelled in the classroom and on the playing courts, is a natural team leader with and has given back to her community through several volunteer organizations.
Brooke is a National Honor Society member with a weighted GPA of 4.0 after having completed demanding courses such as AP English and Composition, AP U.S. History and AP Human Geography, and she has scored 1,400 on the SAT.
She is currently in the University of Connecticut ECE programs and taking courses such as Writing Through Literature, Spanish, and Government & Politics.
When Brooke was a sophomore she was a member of the Stamford High girls basketball team which won the state Class LL championship. Last year she made the 2016-17 All-FCIAC Girls Basketball Second Team as a junior and she is currently a senior team captain. Brooke was also the starting setter for the girls volleyball team.
Brooke received the Certificate of Excellence from the Stamford Public Education Foundation for helping “at risk” sixth- and seventh-grade students in the Rippowam Mentoring Program keep their grades up, improve their organization skills and stay out of trouble. She was also head coach of the fourth-through-sixth grade basketball team.
Andrew Darby – Darien – Boys Basketball
Andrew is a senior co-captain of both the boys basketball and perennially-strong boys lacrosse team and has registered a 3.697 GPA while taking demanding classes such as AP Statistics, AP Calculus, Honors Physics and Honors Chemistry.
He has been a key contributor toward Darien’s boys lacrosse teams winning FCIAC and state championships in 2016 and ’17 and he plans on playing lacrosse at the University of Michigan.
Andrew is a member of Safe Rides and he also volunteers for the Darien Youth Lacrosse Program and Feed My Starving Children program.
Jake Sloane – New Canaan – Boys Basketball
This senior leader has made either Honors or High Honors all four years of high school.
Jake is a four-year member of both the boys basketball and boys track and field teams and has been a team captain all four years for either the freshman, junior varsity or varsity boys basketball teams.
He has also been a member of the Service League of Boys throughout high school and is Liaison for Sports Buddies, an organization which promotes athletic participation for mentally challenged children.
Chris Colbert – Wilton – Boys Indoor Track
Chris has consistently taken rigorous Advanced Placement and Honors classes and become a High Honor Roll student with an unweighted GPA of 3.9.
He is a member of the National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society. He received the Wilton Land Trust Conservation Book Award as a junior.
Chris, who has been captain of both the indoor and outdoor teams since his junior years, owns school records in the 300-meter run (35.36, indoors) and 400 (48.71, outdoors) and has earned All-FCIAC, All-State and All-New England honors. He has also competed at the New Balance Nationals. Last year he received the Leadership Award for the indoor and outdoor seasons.
He is also a member of the CT Elite Track & Field Club team and a participant and volunteer for several organizations. Chris has been a leader at YMCA Camp Belknap in New Hampshire. He also coaches Recreational Youth Basketball, is a certified lifeguard with training in CPR, First-Aid, and AED.
Chris will bring his smarts, speed and leadership attributes to Yale University this coming fall and be a sprinter for the men’s track and field program.
Jennie Piotrzkowski – Greenwich – Girls Ice Hockey
This High Honor Roll student was accepted into the National Honor Society and Chinese Honor Society this year.
Jennie – a member of the field hockey, girls ice hockey and girls lacrosse teams – captained the ice hockey team in her junior and senior years and she earned All-FCIAC and All-State kudos as a sophomore and junior.
She is a member of the Steering Committee for Greenwich High School’s Names Team, secretary of SPIE (Students Partnering in Education) and treasurer for the China Club.
Jennie is extremely gratified about the valuable lessons and lifelong friendships she has gotten out of her experiences volunteering with Storm special hockey and coaching for Stamford Youth Lacrosse.
Katrell Clay – Norwalk – Boys Indoor Track
Katrell will soon receive his high school graduation diploma and an associate’s degree in software engineering as he is a student at both Norwalk High School and Norwalk Community College as a participant in the NECA (Norwalk Early College Academy) program.
On the track he happens to be one of the best hurdlers in New England. Katrell won the state Class LL 300-meter hurdles with a time of 39.48 last spring in the CIAC Class LL Boys Outdoor Track and Field Championships and more recently he added FCIAC and state Class LL individual titles indoors this winter in the 55-meter hurdles, clocking an 8.04 while winning his Class LL race. Katrell also won the 300-meter dash this winter at the FCIAC Eastern Division Championships to begin a championship meets season in which he triple-medaled in the divisional, conference and state championship meets.
This National Honor Society member is currently an intern at IBM and a member of the Norwalk High School Robotics Team and STEM Travelers Club.
Katrell has been a recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award for community service (2017-18), the Frederick Douglass Award (2016-17), NECA Scholar of the Year Award, and Housemaster Award (2015-16) and he helps raise funds for his school’s cooking program.
Katrell plans on continuing his student-athlete career as a hurdler/sprinter in college and has thus far applied to Brown, UConn, Wesleyan, Georgia State, Georgetown, George Washington and several more.
Alex Price – Ridgefield – Boys Basketball
Alex has been a key contributor – including when he drained four three-pointers in the fourth quarter and overtime against Trinity Catholic – to help Ridgefield have a very good season and get in position to secure very high seeds in the FCIAC and state tournaments.
He is a three-year member of the varsity boys basketball team and also an excellent baseball player who earned All-FCIAC and All-State First Team selections and was team MVP while helping lead the Tigers to the FCIAC championship last spring.
Alex also excels in the classroom. He has a cumulative unweighted GPA of 3.97 (4.3 weighted) and has been a High Honor Roll/Honor Roll student every quarter of his high school career.
He and his baseball teammates volunteer for the Best Buddies program and they teach youngsters with disabilities the game of baseball.
Alex plans on majoring in Environmental Science and playing baseball next year at Middlebury College.
Khadijat Amoo – Bridgeport Central – Girls Basketball
This Fairchild Wheeler senior is a true leader as she is captain of Central’s girls basketball team, president of her National Society of Black Engineers Chapter, founder and president of her Society of Women Engineers Club, vice president of her National Honor Society Chapter, and co-captain of her cross country and track and field teams.
Khadijat has accumulated about 270 hours of community service and still maintained her 4.15 GPA throughout her high school career.
She has also worked on the U.S. Military Blackhawk as an aircraft mechanic at Sikorsky Aircraft.
Khadijat has so far been awarded an $80,000 scholarship to Georgia Institute of Technology to study Chemical Engineering and she has also been accepted into the University of Virginia and University of Maryland.
Will Landowne – Staples – Boys Indoor Track
Will has an unweighted GPA of 3.5 while taking AP and Honors classes almost entirely throughout high school and during this senior year he has an unweighted GPA of 3.8.
Will is team captain of the boys cross country, indoor and outdoor tracks during all three sports seasons. And during all four fall seasons Will has been an excellent distance runner who has helped lead the cross country team to four state Class LL championships and a State Open team crown.
More recently Will scored 20 of his team’s 37 points when he was a double individual champion (1,000-meter run and 1,600) who led Staples to second place at the CIAC Class LL state championship meet and that was merely the latest of so many victories and achievements at conference and state championship meets.
Will has many All-FCIAC, All-State and All-New England awards and has competed at indoor track and cross country national meets.