It was obvious this winter that Jefferson High had a high achieving group of athletes. They excelled at wrestling, basketball and cheerleading.
What may not have been quite as obvious to the fans in the stands, though, was what a sharp bunch of students they are. When it comes to academics, they are at least as driven as they are in sports.
Twenty-nine winter athletes earn Academic All State honors for the season. To merit that designation, they had to earn a letter in the their Montana High School Association sanctioned activity and tally a grade point average of at least 3.5.
Three winter athletes – Emily McGinnis in basketball, Kylie Marks in cheerleading and Josh Eckmann in basketball – set the bar high, earning a perfect 4.0 GPA while working hard at their activity.
A total of three wrestlers, 13 girls’ basketball players and managers, seven cheerleaders and six boys’ basketball players were named Academic All State recipients.
Making their mark:
Wrestling – Brett Hale, Drake Schake and Dakota Dorn; girls’ basketball – Leah Vossler, Natalee Stout, Mattie Brustkern, Ellie Evertz, Ashton Oxarart, Emily McGinnis, Mykala Edmisten, Callie Warfle, Aubrey McMaster, Ashley Pankratz, Emma Stout and Abbie Supalla; cheerleading – Neve Alexander, Jadyn Armstrong, Kylie Marks, Emme Rosenbaum, Katy Twichel, Alexa Winstead and Haylee Wood; boys’ basketball – Britton Peterson, Jaxson Yanzick, Dalton Rykal, Josh Eckmann, Hunter Gilbert and Bryce Harrington.
Among the honorees were a dozen seniors, nine juniors and eight sophomores, a suggestion that the likelihood of continued high numbers of Academic All Staters in future years is great.
