A severely broken wrist ended Blaze's junior season and threatened to end his football career. And while going through the rehabilitation, Blaze was dealt another blow as his grandfather was diagnosed with a potentially terminal lung issue. Blaze returned to the field as a senior to lead the state in passing yards per game and he also ranked fifth nationally. He also had 40 TD passes as Eminence won seven games a year after going winless. And then his grandfather received a lung transplant that changed his prognosis. Blaze also served as captain for his team and earned academic all-state honors.

Audrey Biggs / Boyd County HS

A torn knee ligament put Audrey on the sidelines heading into her junior season team but she attacked the rehab process like a warrior, going seven days a week and she returned midway through the basketball season and led Boyd County to back-to-back 16th region title games. The Lions also captured the 2024 Class 2-A state tournament title along the way and Audrey was named the MVP. She also played volleyball and was named all-region and made the all-tourney team in the state tournament. Audrey is continuing her basketball career at the University of Pittsburgh.

Hadley fights an ongoing battle with seizures, the cause of which remains unknown at this time. It causes her to miss practices and games but she always comes back to be with her teammates. And Hadley has been a standout for the Livingston Central softball team, which she joined as an eighth-grader. The next season, Hadley led the Cardinals in batting average, in hits and in wins in the pitching circle. And she was on the mound when Livingston Central won its region to advance to the All "A" State Tournament and she was named to the All-Region Team.

As a freshman starter for the Bell County basketball team, Cayden led the team in rebounds but he suffered a badly broken leg during warmups for a district tournament game. There was a question about whether he would be able to play again after a surgery to insert three permanent screws into his tibia but he made it back. Cayden joined the football team for the first time, earned a starting job at cornerback and helped the Bobcats get to the state championship game. In basketball season, he reclaimed a starting spot for a Bell County team that reached the Class 2-A state tournament and produced the best regular ever for Bobcat basketball.

When Destiny steps onto the court, her shoes contain the names of her two brothers-- the two brothers she lost within the past decade, D'Angelo to a fatal car accident and Terry to a gun violence incident. Destiny says her brothers challenged her to be her best when they were alive and she uses their tragic passing as a form of motivation, to be the kind of player they knew she could be. As a senior, Destiny averaged more than 23 points per game, ranking in the top 10 in the state, and more than 11 rebounds per game, helping lead Central to a 24- win season. For her career, she scored more than 1,900 points and more than 1,000 rebounds. Destiny was named Player of the Year in the Seventh Region and she earned a collegescholarship to continue her basketball career and her studies.

The list of adv verse circumstances for Rebecca is a long one. There was a divorce for her parents amid allegations of abuse and later she and her siblings found themselves living with their maternal grandmother and that led to emotional issues that impacted her school work. Rebecca was able to get back on track in the classroom and began to excel but then her grandmother suffered a stroke, leaving Rebecca to oversee other family members as well as care for herself. The situation has improved for her grandmother and Rebecca has returned to some semblance of normalcy. As for athletics, she served as a captain for the Pendleton County cheerleading team that achieved numerous first-place finishes in various competitions and Rebecca also was recognized as Sideline Cheerleader of the Year along the way.

Early in his junior year at Magoffin County, Caleb was rushed to the emergency room with severe dehydration, a high fever and other symptoms that were later diagnosed as a possible case of Crohn's disease. He spent three weeks in the hospital with an intestinal abscess that resulted in a bowel resection surgery. It all led to a 20-pound weight loss. By spring, he was back in training for a return to the Magoffin County football team. He put on 30 pounds of muscle in the weight room and was able to play as a cornerback and a kicker while making substantial gains in his weight-lifting regimen.

Nick was Clinton County's leading rebounder when his sophomore season was cut short with a lumbar fracture in his back and that meant wearing a back brace for nearly four months and enduring rigorous physical therapy.  Nick still supported his team during this time and maintained his high grade-point average.  Once cleared, Nick went to work at rebuilding his conditioning and he returned to once again lead Clinton County in rebounding and charges taken while earning second-team all-region honors--plus he was able to return to both the baseball and golf teams.  Through it all, Nick stayed active in a variety of community service projects and and won the lead role in the school play, too.

A broken leg and a subsequent surgery to insert a metal rod kept Luke off the football field at Covington Catholic for his junior season.  By summer, after more than a year of rehabilitation and therapy, he was able to return to the gridiron.  On a 14-1 Cov Cath team that was runnerup team in the Class 5A title game, Luke played a six games, scored a touchdown and also played a key role on the scout team, going head-to-head every game with a future Division 1 prospect.  His grit and determination earned Luke the Resilience Award at the Colonels' season-ending banquet.

Being able to play basketball for Ft. Campbell High School was a challenging endeavor for Rosella.  Her dad is an active-duty soldier and has been deployed away from home at various times in her time in high school.   Her mom has a full-time night job so Rosella must frequently help care for younger siblings.  This would cause her miss all or part of some practices and a sophomore, she even missed half of earlier season completely.  Rosella also battled an ankle injury last season but she fought through it to earn team MVP honors and rank 11th in the state in rebounding.  She led her team in blocks and steals as well and in the classroom, Rosella earned academic all-state  honorable mention recognition.

Josh Soeder / Oldham County

Between covid and various injuries, it seemed Josh was constanting dealing with setbacks but the biggest obstacle came in his senior season at Oldham County.  A knee injury derailed his football season but he fought to return to his spot on the wrestling team.  The knee injury  was in his right leg, which was his lead leg for his wrestling moves, so he had to learn to attack in a different way with his opposite leg--and with only a short amount of time to make this transition.  How did it go?  Josh qualified for the state wrestling meet for the first time in his high school career and he finished with a record of 54-16 on the mat for Oldham County.

Look up the word "resilient" and you might just see Katie's picture.  She was a four-sport athlete at Nicholas County even though at birth in her native China, a congenital problem left her without a right foot.  She was adopted to the US at age four and she adapted to her missing foot with the aid of a prosthetic and later a sport blade.   Katie was a four-year member of the basketball, volleyball, golf and tennis teams and she also had stints on the track team and the softball team.   Katie earned all-academic honors four times and was a regional sportsmanship award with the tennis team as both a sophomore and junior.  You want more?  She served as state FBLA president as a senior, was active in numerous other clubs and boards and her academic honors included recognition as a Governor's Scholar.

Bronwen suffered two major setbacks that took her off the softball for Grant County. First, as a sophomore, while warming up for the 8th Region finals, she felt a "pop" in  her throwing arm during warmups. She played in the game but a torn ligament was discovered in her elbow and that required surgery. Bronwen made the comeback as a junior only to suffer a catastrophic knee injury and that meant another operation.Those injuries took a mental toll on Bronwen but she once again enduring a lengthy rehab process in order to get back on the softball team for her senior campaign.

A mom battling drug addiction, a father  in prison, a failed adoption--there were a variety of issues that might have led some to throw in the towel but Jacob found a way to write a new story for his life through academics and athletics.  Jacob became an honor student, earned multiple merit-based awards and has plans to head to college and pursue a law degree.  In athletics, Jacob participated in four sports and served as a captain for all of them--cross country, swim, baseball and soccer.  He was a three-time state runnerup in Class A in cross country, earned  most improved player awards in soccer and baseball and was a regional qualifier for the swim team.

A shoulder injury sent Skylar to the sidelines as a sophomore after she had led the state in free throw percentage in basketball.  When she then tore a knee ligament the next summer, she was determined to continue playing  both for the basketball and golf teams at Marshall County.   And did she ever compete!  The golf team was a state runnerup and she was named to the all-region team.  On the hardwood, Skylar played through that torn ACL by wearing a brace and led the Marshalls in scoring as a junior and helped her squad make it back to the First Region Tournament.  Her coach told WPSD-TV that Skylar is the most competitive and perhaps the toughest player he's ever worked with and she inspires her teammates with her commitment and work ethic.