Scholar Athlete: Anthony Gavazzi

Natalia Ghan
Staff Writer

Anthony Gavazzi

Sport: Cross Country and Track

GPA: 4.98

Best athletic moment: “I was an alternate for the state cross country team, and watching my teammates place third two years in a row at the NCHSAA Cross Country Championship was the best part of my cross country career. Breaking five minutes in the mile for the first time was my most memorable moment in track.”

Favorite athlete: “Erik Salgado. He embodies all the values of sportsmanship while excelling in athletics and academics. He is an excellent runner and has other priorities at the same time.”

Scholar Athlete:Shauna Hines

Natalia Ghan
Staff Writer

Sport: Diving

GPA: 4.45

Best Athletic Moment: Winning conference and regionals in diving for the 2012-2013 Diving Season. I didn’t expect to win so I was pretty psyched.

Favorite Athlete: Olympic divers Greg Louganis and David Boudia. I found out more about Louganis through an AP English project last year. He overcame many obstacles including injury.  Boudia because he recently held up to the pressure at the Olympic Games and won a gold medal.

Inspiration: I have a lot of teammates who have been diving for a long time, and they are really good. I hope to be as good as they are someday.

Clubs: NHS Secretary

Hobbies: Watching TV and sleeping.

Favorite food: Potatoes because they are so versatile; you can have them so many different ways. You can have mashed potato, and then can have a baked potato. You can have hashed browns, french fries. I love potatoes every way.

Favorite class: I liked AP U.S. History last year. Everyone in the class got really close. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun.

Future hopes: Get into the University of Georgia and walk on to their dive team. I’d like to become a physical therapist so after graduating from Georgia I hope to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Scholar Athlete: Morgan Hajnos

Shauna Hines
News and Features Editor


Sport: Volleyball- Right Side Hitter

Schedule: Honors Law and Justice, Marketing Personal Business and Finance, Honors Intro to College Math, Yearbook

Morgan Hajnos

GPA: 3.9

Athletic Awards: Academic All Conference

Favorite Athlete: Misty May-Treanor because, “she is really good at what she does.”

Inspiration: Bonnie Hodge, Hajnos’ middle school volleyball coach was the person who really got her interested in volleyball.

Club(s): National Honor Society, DECA, Young Life, Beach Volleyball Club

Hobbies: Summer swim team, assistant recreational volleyball coach, and DECA charity project in association with Life Experiences

Favorite Food: Sushi, Chinese food, and mashed potatoes

Favorite Movie: Mean Girls

Favorite Musician/Band: Jason Aldean

Favorite Class: “I loved APUSH, even though I was really bad at it.”

Future Hopes: Hajnos plans on attending the UNCW Honors College and wants to major in sociology and criminology.

Scholar Athlete: Gabe Cash

Shauna Hines
News and Features Editor

Sport: Football- Defensive Tackle

Gabe Cash

Schedule: Honors Spanish III, Weight Training III, AP Psychology, AP Human Geography

GPA: 4.25

Athletic Awards: Great American Rivalry Series Scholar Athlete award and Academic All Conference

Favorite Athlete: Emmitt Smith from the Dallas Cowboys because his, “character is just awesome for his athletic ability.”

Inspiration: Gabe’s father. “He provides and teaches me how to live with good character.” He has also taught Cash, “How to act when defeated and how to act when you win.”

Club(s): National Honor Society

Hobbies: Fishing, hunting, and hanging out with friends. Cash is also a Boy Scout and is working on earning his Eagle Scout Award.

Favorite Food: Deer sausage

Favorite Movie: Step Brothers

Favorite Musician/Band: Lynyrd Skynyrd

Favorite Class: Cash likes weight training because there are many athletes and he relates to everyone well.

Future Hopes: To attend UNC Chapel Hill, or Appalachian State, and join the army ROTC. Cash wants to major in peace, war, and defense in order to become a relations specialist or CIA ambassador.

Scholar Athletes: September

Natalia Ghan

Staff Writer

Elise Rodrigues

Elise Rodrigues

Sport: Cross Country, Indoor/Outdoor Track

Schedule: Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP Statistics, AP Biology

GPA: 4.6

Best Athletic Moment: XC Conference Race junior year, running a 21:39 5k on the hilly WakeMed Course.

Favorite Athlete: Lindsey Forte. Rodrigues explains how Forte mentored her as a big sister in track and field. “She is one of the smartest people I know, and the reason I stuck with running.”

Inspiration: Her grandfather. Rodrigues hopes to follow his example of perseverance, saying “He moved to America with nothing, and faced many setbacks; he finally achieved his dream of owning his own veterinary practice in Hawaii and seeing his children off to University.”

Clubs: President of HOSA, Vice President of BOOST, member of the National Honor Society.

Hobbies: Rodrigues is not only a runner, but an active soccer player. She plays for CASL three times a week, balancing it with school athletics. She also loves music and painting, and uses her skills to work as an instructor at Camp Musart.

Favorite food: “Sushi!”

Favorite class: AP Psychology. “What we learn is applicable in many aspects of life. Coach Brown is awesome at teaching, and makes the subject really interesting.”

Future hopes: Attend Johns Hopkins University on a pre-med track, attend medical school and eventually become a primary care doctor or pediatrician. 

Nathan Marquard

Nathan Marquard

Sport: Cross Country, Indoor/Outdoor Track

Schedule: Calc AB, AP Chemistry, AP Psychology, Honors English

GPA: 4.3

Best Athletic Moment: Breaking five minutes in the mile, helping Apex boys dominate the 2013 Wilmington Invitational.

Favorite athletes: Steve Prefontaine, who created the culture of running. Marquard tries to live by Prefontaine’s hardcore example of: “The best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a great day to die.”

Inspiration: Coach Cooper. Marquard describes how, “He teaches all runners not only how to run, but how to live and be a better person. Even though he’s intimidating, you come out of Cross Country a lot better of a person than you were coming into it.”

Clubs: Co-founder of Music Appreciation Club, and is a member of the Environmental Club as well as National Honor Society.

Hobbies: Running, eating pasta, working at Papa Murphy’s, throwing toga parties, playing Frisbee, freestyle rapping, and trivia.

Favorite food: Pizza.

Favorite class: AP Biology. “I’ve always been interested in biology, and the way Mr. Derda teaches makes it easy to understand and kind of fun.”

Future hopes: Attend N.C. State for environmental engineering, travel, hike the Appalachian Trail, and help preserve the environment.