Scholar-Athlete award honorees for 2024
Jun
The Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame Washington-Greene County Chapter is pleased to announce its Scholar-Athlete award honorees for 2024.
Each year, the Chapter presents Scholar-Athletes in Washington and Greene counties with monetary awards and a certificate of accomplishment during its annual banquet. This year’s award recipients are Dylan Stewart of McGuffey High School (1st-$3,000), Brodie Kuzior of Burgettstown High School (2nd-$2,000), Geno Calgaro of Canon-McMillan High School (3rd-$1,000), Ruby Morgan of Trinity High School (4th-$750), and Raney Staub of Fort Cherry High School (5th-$500).
The award recipients will be recognized at the 2024 banquet, which will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 9 at the Hilton Garden Inn, Southpointe.
Each nominee’s individual picture and brief biographical information will be featured on the Chapter Facebook page and website.
The process of determining our Scholar-Athletes consists of the Chapter contacting all 19 school districts in the two counties. Officials from the districts then can submit their selections and all requested information to the Chapter, specifically to the Scholar-Athlete Chairwoman, Tricia Alderson.
Those whose information is forwarded by the established deadline become part of that year’s Scholar-Athlete class.
This year 14 of the 19 eligible school districts participated in our program.
The Chapter’s Scholar-Athlete Class of 2024 includes (listed alphabetically after the five award recipients):
Dylan Stewart, McGuffey – Dylan is a three-time letter-winner in both soccer, track and field, and a two-year letter-winner in football. He earned all-section soccer honors three times and was an All-WPIAL selection in 2023. He finished as a top four scorer in program history with 50 career goals Stewart also earned all-conference accolades in football as a standout kicker and twice in track and with three WPIAL medalist achievements (two relays, one individual 200-meters 2nd place). Dylan has a 4.2 cumulative weighted GPA and will continue his academic and soccer careers at Seton Hill University with designs on becoming a history professor. In his 300-word essay responding to “How will the lessons I learned from my participation in high school athletics help to impact my future?” Dylan wrote “The high school athletic programs that I have been a part of have set me up to benefit from the gifts of life but also prepared me for the inevitable hardships we must endure. Sports has taught me to always look for the positives, and how important consistency, discipline and hard work are.”
Brodie Kuzior, Burgettstown– Brodie is a three-year letter-winner in both football and baseball while also earning letters in basketball and wrestling. He was a two-time all-conference linebacker, earning first-team honors this past fall as well as making the Black Hills Conference All-Academic Team. Kuzior was also a 2023 all-section first baseman and team captain. Kuzior, with a 3.84 cumulative GPA, will continue his athletic and academic careers at Seton Hill University. In his 300-word essay responding to “How will the lessons I learned from my participation in high school athletics help to impact my future?” Brodie wrote “The most valuable lesson of many that I have learned from competing in high school athletics is that you must work so very hard for what you want, and not just talk about what you want. High school athletics has provided me with the needed wisdom and maturity to accomplish my future goals.”
Geno Calgaro, Canon-McMillan – Geno is a three-time all-conference linebacker, Big 33 selection, three-time football team MVP who finished with 331 career tackles, 15 sacks, seven forced fumbles and two interceptions. He was also a 2023 WPIAL team wrestling champion who finished third in the WPIAL (#215) in 2024. A PIAA wrestling qualifier, Calgaro is also a letter-winner in track and field. A Distinguished Honor Roll student with a 4.2 cumulative weighted GPA, Calgaro will continue his academic (business major) and athletic careers at Saint Francis (Loretto, Pa.) University. In his 300-word essay responding to “How will the lessons I learned from my participation in high school athletics help to impact my future?” Geno wrote “The most important lesson I have gained through high school athletics is setting goals for yourself. Setting goals teaches you the importance of staying disciplined, and creating strategies to reach them. Goals teach you that everything in life is a process. It holds you accountable for your actions and progress.”
Ruby Morgan, Trinity– Ruby is a four-year letter-winner and four-time all-section, three-time All-WPIAL goalkeeper selection in soccer and three-year letter-winner and three-time all-section star in basketball. Both are perennial playoff teams. In basketball she was selected to play in the prestigious 5A Roundball Classic Premiere Game. She was the soccer team’s MVP each of her final two seasons. A 4.38 cumulative weighted GPA student, she will continue her academic and athletic careers at Eastern Kentucky University. In her 300-word essay responding to “How will the lessons I learned from my participation in high school athletics help to impact my future?” Ruby wrote “In all, not taking anything for granted, the opportunity to lead, self-discipline, and mental toughness are all important lessons I’ve learned from my four years as a soccer and basketball student-athlete at Trinity High School. This has been the foundation that will impact my future.”
Raney Staub, Fort Cherry – Raney is a four-year letter-winner in basketball and track and field, as well as a two-year letter-winner in volleyball. She scored more than 1,000 career points in basketball and earned first-team, all-section honors each of the past two seasons while being team captain. In 2023 she was the WPIAL Class AA finalist and a PIAA State Qualifier in the 800-meters and last fall earned second-team all-section honors in volleyball. Staub looks to enter the medical profession and has a 3.7 cumulative GPA. She will study sports medicine at Kent State (OH) University. In her 300-word essay responding to “How will the lessons I learned from my participation in high school athletics help to impact my future?” Raney wrote “Being a team captain taught me valuable leadership and communication skills. I was able to mentor the underclassmen while still learning from the coaches and I hope to take the skills I’ve learned in varsity sports into my future career in sports medicine.”
The following are the nominees from other schools in the two-county area.
Iain Callan, Washington – Iain is a three-year letter-winner in baseball and also a letter-winner in unified bocce. The hard-hitting Callan has been listed as a “WPIAL Baseball Player to Watch” for each of the past three years. Through competing alongside teammates of varying abilities, Callan helped the unified bocce team finish fourth in the WPIAL. He is a standout student with a 3.88 cumulative GPA.
Vitali Daniels, Bentworth – Vitali is a three-year letter-winner in wrestling and football. On the wrestling mat he was a three-time WPIAL runner-up, section champ, and two-time PIAA state place-winner (4th and 7th) who finished with a career record of 120-29. A two-time all-conference football selection (QB-DB) with a 3.7 cumulative GPA, Daniels will continue his athletic and academic careers at PennWest Edinboro University.
Alicia Kolson, Chartiers-Houston – Kolson is a three-year letter-winner in volleyball and track and field as well as a two-year letter-winner in basketball having never played the sport until her sophomore year. A volleyball outside hitter and basketball forward, Alicia is a 4.0 cumulative GPA student.
Liam Lohr, Carmichaels – Liam is a three-year letter-winner in golf, baseball and a two-year letter-winner in basketball. A two-time PIAA state qualifier in golf, Lohr won the 2023 WPIAL Section 3 2A individual championship and finished second at the TRICADA Tournament. In 2022, he placed third at the WPIAL AA Championships after finishing 10th in 2021. He is a high honors student with a 4.00 cumulative GPA.
Ryan Minerd, Beth Center – Ryan is a three-time letter-winner in basketball, where he was a center and power-forward team captain. He is also a letter-winner and standout in the javelin and 800-meter run in track and field. He is a high honors student with a 3.97 cumulative GPA who has been named to several All-Academic athletic teams.
Cameron Mills, Peters Township—Cameron is a three-year letter-winner and team captain of the perennial power basketball team. A shooting guard, he helped the Indians win the 2023 WPIAL Class 5A Section 1 championship and advance to the WPIAL finals and PIAA quarterfinals. This past season the team went 17-6 and again qualified for the WPIAL playoffs. Mills is a National Honors Society chairman with a cumulative weighted GPA of 5.09.
Alison Ostrich, Jefferson-Morgan – Alison is a four-year letter-winner in volleyball and two-year letter-winner in basketball, who also played softball in high school. She earned All-County honors twice in both volleyball and basketball from the Greene County Athletic Directors Association. Also a Greene Scene Athlete of the Month selection, Ostrich has a 3.5 cumulative GPA.
Alexis Perry, Mapletown – Alexis is a three-year letter-winner in softball and two-year letter-winner in volleyball. She has earned All-County honors in both sports from the Greene County Athletic Directors Association and was also a Greene Scene Athlete of the Month selection for softball. Perry has a 4.4 cumulative weighted GPA.
Taylor Sibert, Waynesburg Central – Taylor has participated in softball, basketball, and soccer each of the past four years, earning three-letters in both softball and soccer and two letters in basketball. A standout student, Sibert was named to the Century Conference All Academic Team this past March and has a 3.94 cumulative GPA. She plans on attending cosmetology school.
For more information and questions about the June 9 banquet, please contact Linda Messich, treasurer, at 724.998.1150 or [email protected] , BJ Pustovrh, banquet coordinator, at 724.678.4320 [email protected] or Dan Alderson, president, 724.825.9059 or [email protected]