WPIAL Names 2023 James Collins Scholar-Athlete Award Recipients The 32nd year of the program saw 20 winners selected from a pool of 162 applicants, its most since 2002
Pittsburgh, Pa. – April 19, 2023 – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) revealed the recipients of the 32nd annual WPIAL/James Collins Scholar-Athlete Award on Wednesday, with 20 candidates (10 male, 10 female) selected from a group of 162 nominees.
The 162 nominees are a 21-year high for the program and are a 20-nominee increase from the 2021-2022 school year. The candidate pool consisted of 81 male and 81 female student-athletes from a total of 92 schools. Among the 2022-2023 group of applications, 88.3 percent participated in multiple sports, 53.4 percent ranked inside the top 10 of their class among schools that rank, and 17.7 percent were ranked first in their class among schools that rank.
Congratulations to London Whipkey on being selected as a 2023 WPIAL/James Collins Scholar-Athlete winner and representing West Greene Junior-Senior High School.
London Whipkey (West Greene) – 4.20 GPA … Four-year letterwinner in softball and volleyball and won a letter as a freshman in rifle … Served as captain for the softball team as a junior and senior and the volleyball team as a junior … Helped guide West Greene to the WPIAL softball championship as a sophomore … Named All-State in softball as a sophomore and junior … Garnered All-WPIAL honors in volleyball as a senior … Served as Class President for four years … Won American Excellence Award, American Citizenship Award, Lions Club Outstanding Student, and The Challenge Program Award in STEM and Academic Excellence … Member of National Honor Society, Academic League, Student Government, Calculus Club, Science Club, Engineering Club, and Peer Mentoring Club … Organized donation collections for WVU Children’s Hospital and free cooking classes with Corner Cupboard Food Bank … Plans to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Mount Union