G-P’s Clabo wins High School Heisman

Gatlinburg-Pittman senior David Clabo is one of two prep athletes in the tate of Tennessee to be awarded the 2006 Wendy’s High School Heisman. Clabo, along with Caitlin Nicholl’s of Father Ryan High School in Nashville, received the prestigious recognition recently as the competition narrowed for the 2006 Wendy’s High School Heisman Award. The two were honored as state winners based on their outstanding achievements in athletics, academics and community service. According to a press release sent this week, both Clabo and Nicholl, embody the spirit of the Heisman tradition through hard work and dedication on and off the field. Clabo, the recent winner of the boys state championship cross-country track and field competition, learned last Monday, Nov. 6, that he was chosen as this year’s winner of the award. He will be notified of any change of status and if he will advance further in the national competition on Friday, November 17. In addition to two state winners, nine males and females from Tennessee were selected as state finalists from a total of nearly 15,000 nominees nationwide. State winners, Nicholl and Clabo, face tough competition this fall in the next phase of the competition. They join two winners from each state and the District of Columbia, and must make it through another round of elimination when Wendy’s announces twelve national finalists in mid-November. National winners will be named in December in conjunction with the collegiate Heisman presentation in New York. Created in 1994 in partnership with the Heisman Memorial Trust, the Wendy’s High School Heisman has recognized outstanding and well-rounded students for 13 years. Nominees are judged by a panel including past Wendy’s High School Heisman winners as well as leaders in education, business, athletics and community service. The program is currently in the state winners phase, but not for long. By the end of November, the competition will narrow to 12 national finalists, two from each of six regions. The national finalists will travel to New York City on Dec. 8-10 to participate in the Heisman weekend festivities, where one male and female will be named winners of the Wendy’s High School Heisman during an awards ceremony broadcast on ESPN2. These winners will also be recognized during the collegiate Heisman trophy presentation on ESPN on Dec. 9. Tennessee’s Wendy’s High School Heisman State Finalists: Student Name Gender High School Hometown Rachel Robbs F Ooltewah High School Apison Brittany McClain F Richard Hardy Memorial School South Pittsburg Christin Moss F Grace Baptist Academy Cleveland Brittney Everhart F Gatlinburg Pittman High School Sevierville Haley Moody F Morristown-Hamblen West High School Morristown Erin Svoboda F St. Agnes-St. Dominic School Memphis Janet Orgain F Peabody High School Trenton Meghan Maynard F Lebanon High School Lebanon Kayla Hudson F Gleason School Gleason Kenneth Pearson M Soddy-Daisy High School Sale Creek James Smith M Seymour High School Sevierville Micah Beam M Kings Academy Seymour Will Parker Roe M Humboldt High School Humboldt Alan Wong M Merrol Hyde Magnet School Hendersonville Christopher Turbeville M Beech High School Hendersonville Tyler Bowman M Cascade High School Shelbyville Joseph Wilson M Father Ryan High School Nashville Dorman Vaughn M Davidson Academy Goodlettsville