Presenting the 2020 KC Star Scholar-Athletes, and how we determined the winners
Our annual Kansas City Star Scholar-Athlete awards program, now in its 37th year of recognizing the best of the best in Kansas City-area young people, is always special.
But it took on even greater importance in 2020.
With “normal” life effectively shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of high school seniors were prevented from celebrating at proms ... unable to walk to the stage as their names were called during commencement exercises ... and barred from competing in their final seasons of high school sports.
None of this diminishes what they accomplished in order to reach this milestone time in their lives.
Today’s presentation of Staley’s Hayden Gregg and Blue Valley North’s Lexy Farrington as our Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year for 2020, plus more than 100 high school winners, culminates a process that included three rounds of intense judging.
Officials from each of the 100-plus high schools within The Star’s coverage area submitted up to three nominees apiece. Each nomination included a personalized rundown of athletic skills, academic and other achievements and faculty endorsements.
The first round of Scholar-Athlete judging was carried out by current and former members of The Star’s newsroom. They whittled the field to one winner per school before handing off these semifinalists to a second group of judges, who were tasked with determining two top 10s: one for the boys, one for the girls.
The portfolios of these top 10s, our 2020 Scholar-Athletes of the Year semifinalists, were then placed into the hands of a panel of final judges. Taking part as final judges this year were Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, Royals pitcher Brad Keller, Sporting KC forward Daniel Salloi, Mayor Quinton Lucas, KC Sports Commission CEO and president Kathy Nelson and former KC Star high school sports editor — and founder of The Star’s Scholar-Athlete program in 1984 — Tom Ibarra.
The judging criteria remained a guiding light each step of the way. Student-athletes were evaluated 45% on their athletic prowess, 35% on academic achievements, 10% on participation in activities apart from sports and academics, such as community service and student government, and 10% on overall impact on their respective school’s environment. Variances in class size and rank, as well as size and competitiveness of their schools’ athletic leagues and conferences, were also carefully considered.
Within today’s pages of The Star and on Kansascity.com, you’ll learn about Staley’s Gregg and BV North’s Farrington and each school’s winner. You’ll also see who else was nominated from each campus. All of them were eminently deserving of our attention.
The overall male and female winners earn handsome trophies and typically are invited to throw out the first pitch before a Royals game at Kauffman Stadium. All school winners get tickets to the game — we’ll try to arrange these things once baseball returns — as well as special certificates commemorating their achievement.
Before you move on and check out this year’s honorees, please join us in congratulating each nominee and our school and overall winners, and in thanking everyone whose time and effort made it possible for The Kansas City Star to once again honor some of the brightest young men and women our region has to offer.
They’re embarking on the exciting next stages of their lives, but they won’t soon be forgotten for their indelible impact on ours.