West Hartford’s 2024 CIAC Scholar Athletes were among the students from throughout the state celebrated Sunday, May 5, 2024.

Courtesy of CAS-CIAC

By Ronni Newton

The 346 high schools seniors – two from each member high school across Connecticut – who have been selected as scholar-athletes by the Connecticut Association of Schools and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CAS-CIAC ) were celebrated Sunday with their family and friends at the 41st annual Scholar-Athlete Awards banquet Sunday at the Aqua Turf in Southington.

West Hartford Public School students Rylan Priest and Thomas Nash from Hall and Lily Nguyen and Neev Kanwar from Conard were among the honorees, selected by the administration.

Northwest Catholic High School seniors Emily LeBlanc and Gianni Mirabello were also honored.

The students recognized are those “whose academic and athletic careers have been exemplary, whose personal standards and achievements are a model to others, and who possess high levels of integrity, self-discipline and courage,” the CAS-CIAC said in an announcement.

Keynote speaker was Brandon Sherrod, a Stratford High School and Yale University graduate.  Sherrod, a two-time CIAC state basketball champion at Stratford High School who helped lead the Yale University basketball team to its first ever NCAA Tournament victory in 2016, took a leave of absence to tour globally in 2015 with the acclaimed a capella group known as the Whiffenpoofs of Yale. After graduation, he played professional basketball overseas for seven years and now operates BS35 Basketball, his mentorship and training company, and also recently completed his first year as assistant coach for the Yale Men’s Basketball program, which won the 2024 Ivy League Championship.

The 2024 Michael H. Savage Spirit of Sport Award was presented to Nonnewaug High School’s Scott Meyer. According to the ?CAS-CIAC, “Meyer has endured five surgeries to treat brain cancer, the first at age six. He has also undergone two rounds of chemotherapy. Despite the surgeries and treatment leaving him with residual effects that include left-sided weakness, minimal use of his left hand, and seizures, he competes with the Nonnewaug High School indoor and outdoor track teams.” A CIAC  profile of Meyer can be seen in this video story.

A complete list of this year’s CAS-CIAC Scholar-Athletes can also be viewed here, in addition to lists of all-time honorees by year.

Courtesy of CAS-CIAC

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