10 nominated for prestigious high school athletic award

Augusta Prep senior Abby Alexander joined an elite group of 10 student athletes when she recently was named a Wendy's High School Heisman state finalist.

The program is designed to honor prep student athletes who excel on the field, in the classroom and in the community.

"This distinction is such an honor for any athlete," said Augusta Prep cross country coach Mike Burely. "There is no athlete I've ever been around that deserves this more than Abby."

Alexander finished second in the state in cross country this past season and led the girls' team to a state title.

"We had such a great season," Alexander said. "As one of the older girls on the team, I got to watch so many younger girls grow throughout the season."

Even though she finished on the all-state team four straight seasons in cross country, Alexander says her favorite sport is basketball. The senior made the varsity team as an eighth-grader and has played ever since.

She started playing the sport at age 5 and started competing in cross country to get in shape for basketball.

Alexander hopes her basketball abilities will translate into an athletic scholarship at schools such as Rhodes College, Babson or Washington and Lee.

"It is entirely possible that I will go to a school regardless of athletics to get a quality degree," she said. "But no matter where I go I will try to walk on."

Some of the other schools Alexander is considering are Yale, Duke, Dartmouth, Harvard and Brown.

"She's the dream athlete," Burley said. "She excels in multiple sports and is a stellar student."

Alexander also serves as the student council president, president of the French Club, a member of the National Honor Society and a member of the Red Cross youth board.

Although Alexander was the county's only state finalist, every school nominated a male and female for consideration.

The county nominees were:

Augusta Prep: Alexander Abate: golf and cross country

Augusta Christian: Jon Kilpatrick: cross country, track; Kristin Wallace: softball

Evans: Kayla Bourne: cross country, swimming, tennis; Cheng Ho: football, basketball, track

Greenbrier: Edward Curtis: football, baseball; Alisha Simmons: basketball, track

Harlem: Mark Hanna: football; Amber Klein: softball

Lakeside: Natasha Reynolds: volleyball; B.B. Brandenburg: football, basketball