In its 59th year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Scholar Athlete program recently honored one student from every area high school, a requirement being that they participate in athletics and excel in the classroom.

Locals selected as scholar athletes by the paper were Ava Rau of Waterloo High School, Elle van Breusegen of Columbia High School, Michael Wessel of Gibault Catholic High School, Violet Krekel of Valmeyer High School and Kaitlynn Townsend of Dupo High School.

Rau is a state qualifier in both cross country and track and will run at the University of Southern Indiana. She is an Illinois State Scholar and member of the National Honor Society.

An all-state softball player, van Breusegen also played basketball at CHS and is a member of the National Honor Society. She will play softball at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Wessel participated in baseball, basketball, golf, soccer and track at Gibault. A member of the National Honor Society, he will attend Southwestern Illinois College for two years and then pursue an electrical engineering degree at the University of Illinois. 

Krekel starred in volleyball at VHS, was an Illinois State Scholar and is the National Honor Society president. She will attend Maryville University. 

Townsend participated in softball, basketball and cross country for the Tigers. She is a National Honor Society member and was class vice president. She will attend Maryville University.