Anderson wins Athena award for excellence in athletics
May 1, 2017
The Athena award is an award given to a female student that accels in athletics at their school. 43 schools participate in the event in Minnesota. This year senior Hannah Anderson has won the award for Stillwater. Anderson is a three sports athlete, she plays soccer in the fall, hockey in the winter and runs track in the fall.
The award began in 1972, behind the Greek goddess Athena. Athena is the goddess of wisdom and skills. She also posses the gifts of dignity, power and youth. Past recipients for Stillwater are class of 2015 Megan Weaver and class of 2010 Olympian Jessie Diggins.
Anderson said, “It was truly an honor to receive this award because only one senior girl from each of the 43 high schools in the St.Paul area is a recipient for this award. The award is based on athletic achievement and I’m honored to be the recipient from Stillwater Area High School.”
Playing sports year round there is never much of an off season to train for the next sport. Anderson uses the sport she is in at the time and also lifts to get better. During the summer she attends various camps to improve her game for her sports.
Anderson said, “Throughout the summers I have done multiple camps for both soccer and hockey. Regarding track, I joined a track club last summer called Minnesota Track Elite in which we would practice Monday-Thursday in the summer and participate in meets almost every weekend.”
Being a captain for the soccer team and the track team is also a high honor Anderson has earned throughout her high school career. Anderson has ran varsity track since eighth grade and played varsity hockey and soccer since tenth grade. With a couple years under her belt on the varsity level for her sports, makes her very valuable to the team.
She has an incredible work ethic and she is just an all around exceptional athlete which is why she experiences so much success.
— Emma Anderson
Junior Ava Yokanovich who participates in Hockey and Track with Anderson said, “Hannah is encouraging and inspiring to say the least. She does what she has to do and always works her hardest. She is very [valuable] as she gets our team lots of points at true team meets.”
Anderson is not only a strong leader on the teams, but she brings her work ethic to practice as she strives to be the best. People are born with athletic talent, but few put the work in to succeed. This is not the case for Anderson.
Junior Emma Anderson, who has played soccer with her for three years, said, “She has an incredible work ethic and she is just an all around exceptional athlete which is why she experiences so much success.”
Anderson’s high school sports career may be coming to a close at SAHS, but she is on to the next chapter. Next year, Anderson will be running track at the University of North Dakota.
High school sports will always be a memory for her as she said, “There’s something so special about high school sports and the memories and friendships that come along the way.”
Mason Urban • May 9, 2017 at 11:44 am
I really liked this story. It has a lot of good information and the interviews added great depth to the story.
Josh Bauer • May 8, 2017 at 5:22 pm
This article was very well written and a lot of thought was put into the creation of this story. The writer had good questions answered in their interviews and displayed it in this story.
ceci charlsen • May 8, 2017 at 11:39 am
I really liked how this article was laid out and how he put thought into what information the reader would need to appreciate the article. His interviews really enhanced the story, also.
Evan Klein • May 8, 2017 at 11:04 am
The interviews are strong because you can see they know the subject of the story well. The intro is good and same with the nutgraph. Overall well written.
Jack Reinseth • May 8, 2017 at 7:49 am
It was a very easy read, it was very interesting and made me want to know more about it. Good use of interviews and quotes of teammates of Hannah, but could’ve used a coach interview. Overall a very well written and put together article.
Emma Lowey • May 7, 2017 at 12:01 pm
I really enjoyed reading this story! It showed a great detail into Hannah’s dedication to sports and her background in them. The quotes in the story also help the reader understand more about her sportsmanship. Overall this story paints a great portrait of an exceptional athlete!
Emma Salmi • May 5, 2017 at 11:52 am
I think the article was very well written. I like how he included background information in the nutgraph about what the award is. I also like how there are strong quotes from Hannah and her teammates.
Ryan Shepard • May 1, 2017 at 4:00 pm
For the interviews I like how you included teammates that have been playing with her for multiple years. I also enjoyed how you gave a brief explanation of what her athletic career has to come. If I could add one thing it would’ve been interviewing one of her coaches.
Ryan Shepard • May 1, 2017 at 3:59 pm
For the interviews I like how you included teammates that have been playing with her for multiple years. I also enjoyed how you gave a brief explanation of what her athletic career has to come. If I could add one thing it would’ve been interviewing one of her coaches,