Scholar-Athlete overall winners earn elite spotlight

There’s volleyball state tournament pressure, track and field state meet pressure, then there’s throwing out the first pitch at a Royals game pressure.

Arianna Person of St. James Academy and Sam Guinn of Blue Valley Northwest — The Star’s Scholar-Athlete overall female and male winners for the 2013-14 school year — can tell you all about it.

Person, a four-time volleyball state champion, and Guinn, twice the 1,600-meter state champion, threw out the first pitch at Tuesday’s Royals game as part of their recognition for winning the overall Scholar-Athlete titles.

“It was nerve-wracking to throw it to my dad because I didn’t want to hit him in the face or anything, but it was really cool that I got to throw it to him,” Person said of her father, Lorenzo, who was catcher for her first-pitch duty.

Guinn said he and his father, Rick, spent a little time warming up before Tuesday’s game, which helped settle his nerves.

“We spent some time in the backyard before we went, and it felt like I was back in third grade again,” Guinn said.

Person helped St. James Academy to a 46-0 record this season, the Kansas Class 5A state title and a No. 1 national ranking from PrepVolleyball.com. She will continue her career at Belmont University.

Guinn placed third at the Kansas Class 6A cross country state meet last fall, then repeated as state champion in the 1,600-meter run in May. He will run collegiately at Colorado State.