Kiwanis Honor 60 Senior Scholar Athletes From Warsaw Community High School

In addition to performing at their best on the field, the court or the gym, 60 Senior Scholar Athletes from Warsaw Community High School were recognized Thursday by the Kiwanis Club of Warsaw for their excellence in the classroom.
Each student was recognized individually at The Roost at Creighton’s Crazy Egg Cafe and Coffee Bar, after a speech by Athletic Director Matt Binkerd.
The criteria for the recognition was set by WCHS and the Kiwanis jointly, according to Kiwanis member Joni Truex, but the school has a 3.60 grade point average (GPA) cutoff for Senior Scholar Athletes.
“They have to be involved in one sport and maintain a 3.60 and abide by their code of conduct to be considered. And then we honor the top 60 students,” she explained.
Binkerd explained to the Kiwanis the scholar athletes were at the top of the school’s list, and by the time they got to the top 60, the GPA was a 3.67.
The Kiwanis have been recognizing the scholar athletes for more than 25 years, starting with initially just honoring boys basketball, Truex said. That grew to recognize all scholar athletes at the high school.
In his speech, Binkerd said, after receiving a round of applause, “The scholar athletes that are here today are the ones that deserve a standing applause. Not only are they outstanding on the field or the court or the gym or their sport, but also in the classroom. Not just the classroom, too, but the athletic code as far as making choices or healthy great choices on the weekends as we have a code of conduct for our student athletes at Warsaw Community Schools.”
He said those being honored Thursday were the best and brightest from the Class of 2026.
Binkerd talked about the athletic department’s mission statement, vision and purpose statement. He discussed the culture in the athletic department and how important the team bonding events have been for student athletes, especially since after the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
In his 22nd year as an athletic director, seventh at Warsaw, he said one of the things he looks at is the impact of strong leadership, not just from coaches and administrators but also with the seniors on a team as it makes a big difference.
“I just want to say thank you, seniors, for being such outstanding leaders,” he said.
On the department’s philosophy, Binkerd said number one it’s about people, specifically the student athletes and their time at WCHS.
“That’s more important than the overall program itself, the overall team, the culture ... The culture, the team, the programs and the athletic department, as far as the bigger scale, is also important, and that’s more important than winning, but winning is also important because these are competitive sports, especially at the varsity level, so we try to put things in place, outfit resources and do things to help us elevate us as far as our win-loss records throughout our sports programs,” Binkerd said, adding that the elevation and rise in leadership has been neat to see in the last four to five years.
“It’s not win at all costs here at Warsaw, it’s about the people and the student athletes because they come first,” he stated.
Binkerd said it’s important for everyone to continue to believe in the student athletes.
He discussed why leadership and education-based athletics is important.
“I was at a national conference, not this year but the year before, and one of the workshops I was at was talking about some of these other skills and the value and benefits of being involved with an athletic team as a high school student,” Binkerd said. “It’s interesting that, in this day and age and currently, which really makes sense from my perspective, but our colleges and careers and businesses, if you take a look at employers, these are the things they’re looking for in candidates, and the top six skills and abilities, more than anything else.”
Those top six skills are leadership, ability to work in a team, problem-solving skills, communication skills, strong work ethic and initiative.
Binkerd mentioned Warsaw is currently in the process of interviewing for the head girls basketball position and how students say they want a coach who knows what they’re talking about and is committed to be the head coach. They also want someone who is encouraging to their student athletes and are passionate about the sport, the game and the community. The final rounds of interviews for the position are Monday.
He recognized the 2025-26 Northern Lakes Conference Academic All-Conference Top 10 first team, which were Bronwyn Poch, cross country; Titiksha Gorhe, swimming and diving; Matt Vander Bie, golf; Charlie Norton, tennis; Luke Smith, tennis; Ian Parrott, swimming and diving, track; Ella Jarrett, tennis; Griffin Williman, track; Addison Eastwood, tennis; and Eden Metz, cross country, track.
He talked about the Hall of Fame, and highlighted two individual state champs this past school year - Jordan Randall in high jump and Ian Parrott in diving. Parrott also was the recipient of the Mental Attitude Award at state.
For the Class of 2026, 28 seniors are committed to play a sport in college.
The WCHS Senior Scholar Athletes recognized, and their sport, according to information provided, were: Ellie Hepler, volleyball; Grady Williman, soccer; Sam McDaniels, basketball; Joshua Owens, track and football; Hilary Renier, volleyball and unified track and field; Alexis Neely, girls basketball; Karthikreddy Peddireddy, swimming and diving; Sammi Rastrelli, cross country and track and field; Eve Fussle; Ella Jarrett, tennis; Andres Rosas, soccer; Avary Hoeppner, volleyball; Dominoe Custer, cheerleading; Lexy Whittenberger, volleyball; Gabe Veit, wrestling; Matthew Vander Bie, boys golf; Kyra Kiser, girls basketball; Eva Demopoulos, unified track and field, girls basketball, unified flag football; Samuel Allebach, cross country and track; Mydin Burgher, basketball, soccer; Spencer Love, tennis and baseball; Joslyn Bricker, basketball, volleyball, unified track and field, unified flag football; Reese Finley, cheerleading, girls tennis; Hailey Strange, soccer, swimming; Josh Warner, swimming; Samuel Klein; Levi Brath, men’s volleyball; Caitlin Smalley, cheerleading; Melayna Howett, track; Hannah Fisher, cross country and track; Logan Kim, baseball; Bailee Krieger, track and field; Annaka Scholl, soccer, track; Ceceilia Goode, volleyball; Jackson Gackenheimer, track and field, cross country; Carson Devanathan; Lillian Henderson, girls golf; Alexis Reece, cross country; and Lauren Robinson-Gay.