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Guenther up for top WIAA scholar honor
Wisconsin’s top 32 scholar athletes to be recognized
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Monticello’s Evan Guenther was named one of 16 senior boys finalists for the 2022 WIAA Statewide Scholar Athlete Award. A senior, Guenther is a 10-time varsity letterwinner with six all-conference honors. He is also the top of his class at Monticello. - photo by Adam Krebs

STEVENS POINT — Sixteen senior girls and 16 senior boys from Kenosha to Grantsburg have been selected as finalists to receive the prestigious 2022 Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s (WIAA) Statewide Scholar Athlete Award underwritten by Marshfield Children’s Hospital. 

Among those selected was Monticello senior Evan Guenther. He is a ten-time varsity letter winner in cross country, track and field, and basketball. He has earned six all-conference selection honors. Guenther helped his teams win three conference championships in cross country and basketball. He is also first in his class.

More than 1,100 Scholar Athlete finalists have been recognized since the program began in 1984. 

To determine the top 32 finalists, four boys and four girls were selected (based on both athletic and academic achievement) from each of four WIAA divisions. 

“These extraordinary student athletes excel in both academics and athletics,” said Tom Shafranski, Assistant Director of the WIAA. “Sixteen of this year’s 32 WIAA Scholar Athlete finalists have a grade point average of 4.0 to date, while the average GPA is an amazing 3.94. All 32 scholar athlete finalists have already earned a total of 291 varsity letters during their first 3-1/2 years of high school. That’s an average of 9 letters per athlete, and we have not yet completed our spring sports season.” 

This year more than 830 seniors were nominated for the 2022 WIAA Scholar Athlete Award by 430 high schools throughout the state. 

The 2022 WIAA Scholar Athlete Finalists will be recognized at an awards ceremony Sunday, May 1 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Wausau. Keynote speaker will be Karyn Bye, Olympic Gold Medalist on the U.S. Women’s 1998 Hockey Team and recent inductee in the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and the National High School Hall of Fame. 

Of the more than 400 high schools submitting nominations this year, six schools had a finalist for the first time in the 37-year history of the WIAA Scholar Athlete program, including: Mike Brown, Butternut High School; Brennen Dvorachek, Reedsville High School; Evan Guenther, Monticello High School; Sam Heicher, Lake Country Lutheran High School; Elizabeth Roll, Prescott High School; and Lexie Weier, Mount Horeb High School. 

A webcast of the awards ceremony will be available at www.wiaawi.org after the ceremony on May 1. For more information, visit www.wiaawi.org.