Student Athlete Spotlight Voting Now Open

Geist Magazine will be featuring a 2023-2024 Senior Student-Athlete Spotlight in the upcoming June issue. All the past senior student-athletes from this school year are featured here, and two of them will be voted as our finalists. We are letting readers vote on the top-two students, and we will run the final two selected in the May issue. A final winner will then be selected and will be featured on our cover in June with Central Indiana Orthopedics, and that winner will receive a $500 scholarship.

Here are the seven past recipients of the Senior Student-Athlete Spotlight:

September 2023: Lauren Harden

Lauren, a senior at Hamilton Southeastern High School (HSE), plays on the school’s volleyball team, with USA Volleyball, and with the National Team Development Program. She says without volleyball, she wouldn’t be the person she is today. Lauren also says she has learned about leadership, teamwork, perseverance and more through the sport. She is also involved in Blue Crew leadership and student media at HSE.

October 2023: Allison Seitz

Allison, a senior at Lawrence Central High School, won a medal for her efforts on the school’s girls golf team. The team won the 2023 Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference championship. Allison was the top medalist of the tournament. She shot a 77 at Coffin Golf Course during the tournament. Allison is working toward her AP capstone diploma at Lawrence Central and is a member of the National Technical Honor Society.

November 2023: Luke Himes

Luke, a senior at Heritage Christian School, exemplifies a student-athlete who excels at track-and-field events. He has had many wins in shot put and discus. Luke was the IHSAA state champion in shot put, and he was the IHSAA fifth-place winner for discus. He was also the IHSAA sectional and regional champion shot put and discus winner, setting the meet record in shot put.

December 2023: Jake Eads

Jake, a senior at Lawrence North High School, plays both baseball and basketball. In basketball, Jake achieved the three-year varsity award, Hardest Worker award, junior-varsity MVP, junior-varsity Hustle Award, and Freshman Player of the Year award. He plays forward. In baseball Jake won the two-year varsity award and junior MVP. He plays center field. Jake is also an AP Scholar Award recipient.

January 2024: Danny O’Neil

Danny, a senior at Cathedral High School, finished his senior season as one of the top quarterbacks in the country. His on-field talent has allowed him to sign with San Diego State University, where he will continue his football career. Danny not only achieved success on the football field, but was also a standout student with a 4.24 grade point average, which earned him academic all-state honors. Danny’s parents taught him to always seek excellence in every aspect of his life.

February 2024: Ellery Minch

Ellery, a senior at Mt. Vernon High School, was named an Indiana Junior All-Star, and to the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Supreme 15 in both her sophomore and junior years. Ellery’s honors over the years also include being in the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Top 150 camp for 2021, 2022 and 2023, and she was also part of the All-Hoosier Crossroads Conference first team for 2021, 2022 and 2023. She was also the Hancock County Player of the Year for 2023.

March 2023: Micah Derrer

Micah, a senior at Fishers High School, has excelled at rugby. Last season Micah played in the second row of the pack for scrums and was a force in the rucks that form when the teams battle for possession. He was also part of the line-out squad. It was usually as a lifter and sometimes he received the ball from out of bounds. Micah also keeps busy with other school activities and may be better known in his on-air role on “The 3:40” Fishers High School video announcement show.