Top senior scholar-athletes honored by Middle Border Conference

• New Richmond scholar-athletes

New Richmond scholar-athletes Ryan Keehr and Kat Keller are shown at the MBC scholar-athlete banquet with New Richmond athletic director Casey Eckardt.
• Somerset scholar-athletes

Somerset's 2012 scholar-athletes, Derrek Tarter and Laura Wells, are shown at the MBC banquet with Somerset athletic director Bill Roll.

Talk about it

The top senior scholar-athletes in the Middle Border Conference were honored at the annual MBC Scholar Athlete Award Banquet on March 26 at Baldwin-Woodville High School.

Nine-time NCAA All-American Ayla (Mitchell) Helland was the keynote speaker for the banquet. Helland, a New Richmond High School graduate, is now a science teacher at Somerset Middle School.

The top male and female senior scholar athlete from each MBC school was selected by their schools for this honor. Here are the 2012 honorees:

Amery: Gabe Paulson and Kayla Tryggestad

Baldwin-Woodville: Ryan Benoy and Tori Klingler

Durand: Ryan Weisenbeck and Danielle Biederman

Ellsworth: Parker Hines and Abbey Ristow

New Richmond: Ryan Keehr and Kat Keller

Osceola: Andrew Salewski and Madison Johnson

Prescott: Matthew Pechacek and Mary Kate Pryor

Somerset: Derrek Tarter and Laura Wells.

Here is more detailed information on the local students honored.

Ryan Keehr

Ryan is the son of Royce and Cathy Keehr. Ryan was a three-year letterwinner in football. He was named the Most Improved Player as a senior and was a team captain. He was a two-year letterwinner in basketball and he is a member of the Tiger baseball team.

Ryan has had a 3.5 grade point average or better for five semesters. He is a member of National Honor Society and SAFE Youth. He is a SPARK tutor, a Summer Stretch assistant and a Sunday school teacher.

Ryan plans to attend UW-La Crosse or UW-Madison to become a surgeon.

Kat Keller

Kat is the daughter of Brian and Debbie Keller. She is a four-year letterwinner in cross country and a two-time All-MBC runner. She is a three-year letterwinner in basketball. She is a three-year letterwinner in track, being named all-conference three years and all-state two years.

Kat is a member of the National Honor Society. She is involved in FBLA, FFA, Arrive Alive, Student-to-Student, and she is a SPARK tutor.

Kat plans to attend the University of Minnesota to study kinesiology.

Derrek Tarter

Derrek is the son of Pat and Karen Tarter. He was a four-year letterwinner on the Spartan football team and a captain as a senior. He was an all-conference and all-district lineman and he has been invited to play in the Global Challenge football game in Italy and the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All-Star Game. He was a two-year letterwinner in hockey.

He has won Academic Excellence Awards in each year of high school.

He plans to attend UW-River Falls to study business.

Laura Wells

Laura is the daughter of Scott and Karen Wells. Laura was a team captain and an all-conference volleyball player and a two-year member of the Spartan varsity team. She was a three-year varsity basketball player and a team captain her junior and senior seasons. She was a four-year member of the girls soccer team and an all-conference player last spring.

Laura is a member of the National Honor Society. She is involved in STAND, mentoring, prom committee, church choir and youth group.

Laura plans to attend UW-La Crosse to become a speech and language pathologist.

Tags: sports, tigers, spartans, prep, academics