MISSOULA — Welcome back to our fourth day of this year's KPAX Sports Awards, and today, we'll introduce you to our finalists from Sentinel High School.
The female nominee from Sentinel is Ava Kellenberg and the male nominee for the Spartans is Grady Walker.
Kellenberg has been a two-sport star for the Spartans in volleyball and track and field.
In volleyball, she was a team captain and an all-state selection as a senior, while in track, she's the current reigning state champ in the triple jump in Class AA.
She currently owns the top mark in the state in triple jump again and ranks second in long jump, and that sport is where her future lies as Kellenberg will head to UCLA next year to compete in track and field once her time at Sentinel is over.
Kellenberg also holds a 3.7 GPA and is a member of the national honors society.
"Especially here at Sentinel, it's been so great to be surrounded by the coaches and the people and the athletes that we have here," Kellenberg said. "It's just very special and high school definitely wouldn't be what it is without it, and I think it's definitely encouraged me to stay like on task with other things in my life like it helps to build responsibility and hard work and all this other stuff that applies to outside of sports."
Walker is a three-sport athlete for the Spartans and he competed in football, basketball and track and field.
In football, he was an all-state receiver at Sentinel, and in the winter, he helped lead the Spartans boys basketball program to the State AA championship game.
He's been a team captain all throughout high school, is a 3.8 GPA student and a member of the national honors society.
For Walker, his next step will be football right here in town, as he follows a long family line of future Grizzlies, and he'll suit up for the UM football team this fall.
"I've gotten into sports since I was very little and since high school came I kind of got into them even more they kind of became my life and they've always been my life but it's become more of a passion since freshman year," Walker said. "I've just been loving every bit of it."
Those are your finalists from Sentinel, and tomorrow we'll wrap up our nominees and introduce you to the duo from Hellgate.
