Indianapolis, IN (September 9, 2024) – Carley Sexton and Samuel Hurst are the 2024 winners of the Section 6 NIAAA Student Athlete Scholarship. They were chosen in the Spring of 2024 at the annual NIAAA Section 6 meeting.
Sexton is a graduate of Greenwood High School in Greenwood, Arkansas. The athletic director is Chris Young and Sexton’s parents are Aaron and Crystal Sexton.
On the basketball team, Sexton helped the team earn a state title and she was named all-conference in 2023 and all-state in 2022.
As a leader in her school, Sexton was a member of the Student Leadership Team, the Fundraising committee, Spanish club, and mentored freshmen at Greenwood. Furthermore, Sexton was the vice president of finance for the Greenwood High School Health Occupations Students of America.
In her local community, Sexton was an active member at her church – Fellowship Baptist. She was on their hospitality team, a member of the Mission Team, and was active in their youth group. In addition, for close to six years Sexton volunteered for the Special Olympics.
Hurst is a graduate of Broken Bow High School in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. The athletic administrator there is Kraig Sundberg and Hurst’s parents are Jeffrey and April and Hurst.
At Broken Bow Hurst competed in a wide array of sports, including baseball, track, cross country, basketball, football, and quiz bowl. He spent four years on the basketball team, and two years each on cross country and quiz bowl.
As a school leader, Hurst was heavily involved in several ways. He was Student Council Vice President, Student Council Leadership Officer, a leader in Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and a member of the History club and Spanish club. In addition, Hurst was a captain on the football and basketball team.
In his local community, Hurst was an active member in his church’s youth group and participated in events associated with it. These events include free car washes, providing meals for people, and hosting bible schools for kids in the area.
Hurst has also helped lead projects with Student Council, such as painting parking lots at schools, painting gyms, and putting on a play for elementary school children.
Section student-athlete scholarships are provided each year by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) to one male and one female student athlete from each section for their distinguished scholastic, leadership, and sportsmanship qualities.
For a student to apply for and receive the scholarship, they must meet certain requirements which include a certain level of athletic and academic achievements, amongst other criteria.