Freeman

Equally loving the thrill of competition and wonders of academics, Emma Freeman had little trouble finding time for both in her career at St. Louis Catholic.

The St. Louis graduate excelled at both, being a part of five state championship track and field teams while graduating with a 4.6 grade point average and an American College Testing score of 34. For that, she is the girls winner of the American Press Scholar Athlete of the Year award.

Freeman played multiple sports before concentrating on track and field, in which she won numerous individual state championships and a scholarship to compete at Ole Miss.

“My freshman year I played volleyball, basketball and track,” she said. “My sophomore year I did basketball and track and then my last two years were just track,” she said. “I love training, being able to work towards a championship, competing and having a team around me.

“Track and field is the perfect sport for me. I like being able to do my events alone then come together as a team to try to win championships.”

Freeman said giving up basketball was hard.

“I loved (head coach) Tony Johnson and being a part of that team,” she said. “I knew that basketball would not get me as far as track and field, but I really loved being part of that team.”

Freeman found great success in track and field, winning five team titles and three individual state championships in the discus. She finished second twice in the javelin and in the top 10 three times in the shot put.

“As soon as Coach Johnny Giordano came over, it made all the difference,” she said. “He was the perfect coach for me. He was always there to push me and always worked to build a relationship with all of his athletes.”

Success early in high school led Freeman to focus on track in hopes of earning a scholarship.

“In middle school, I was pretty dominant in the throws, but winning state in discus my freshman year and finishing second in second let me know that I was good on all levels,” she said. “That’s when I decided I wanted to work for the chance to throw in college.

“It feels great now. I know that not everyone gets this opportunity. I’m grateful for it. The recruiting process was super fun. Knowing that I was one of the elite at my sport was great too.”

A trip to Oxford sold Freeman on Ole Miss.

“I knew it was a place that I wanted to be,” she said. “All of the team members were friendly and I loved everything about the school. I was able to meet with people from the engineering department and they were all nice. I loved the campus and it is the perfect distance from home for me.”

Finding time for school work was never a problem.

“I love academics and sports, enjoy both of them so it was never a challenge to balance them,” she said.

“I am a math person. I took calculus this year and that was definitely my favorite class. I also enjoyed chemistry and anything else in the math and sciences. I am going to study computer engineering at Ole Miss. I’ve always wanted to be an engineer. I am very logical … I did a lot of research on all the engineering disciplines and that is the one I was drawn to the most.”

Vinson

John Vinson spent a couple of years finding a sport at Westlake High School that suited him.

After settling on football, the linebacker helped the Rams to a turnaround season his senior year when the Rams went from winless to hosting a second-round playoff game.

Along the way, Vinson shined in the classroom, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.29 grade point average, earning 40 hours of college credit and winning Westlake’s annual Confer-Creel scholarship.

For that, he is the boys winner of the American Press Scholar Athlete of the Year award.

Vinson said he enjoyed trying different sports his first two years.

“I played baseball and track and field for one year, baseball for two years and football for four years,” he said.

“Being in different sports gave me an idea of how awesome Westlake is. You can really choose your own path. Baseball was great, it was a great group of guys. I loved the people and a lot of my best friends are from baseball.

“Track was good, it was more of a solo time. You are just by yourself, cooling down after a long day of school. It was a satisfying way to have some cool-down time at the end of a day.”

Vinson said he was drawn to the teamwork of football.

“I was trying to find my niche and found that football was my favorite,” he said. “You’re fighting for a team, not just an individual.”

Vinson says he enjoyed his senior season in particular. The Rams improved from 0-4 in the 2020 season to 8-4 in 2021, beating Grant 45-22 in the first round of the playoffs.

“We were nothing,” he said. “We were 2-8 my freshman year then didn’t win a game at all the next year; then came back, had an amazing season and made the playoffs. Having that turnaround and that playoff victory we had been working for was so great. It was awesome to play Sterlington in the second round.”

After a busy first year at Westlake, Vinson figured out how to manage his time better to ensure continued success in the classroom.

“My freshman year was pretty difficult and I kind of freaked out, but then I realized that academics came first,” he said. “I started to balance everything, learned how not to procrastinate and not make bad decisions. I started getting my work done early and that made it easy.”

Vinson said some courses at Westlake were just as fun as playing sports.

“Coach Keith Guidry’s pre-calculus class was my favorite,” he said. “There was a group of pretty smart students that had been together for years growing up. He was the type of teacher that everyone loved, that changes your life.”

Vinson took all of his classes at McNeese State this past school year and ultimately decided to stay there for his undergraduate career.

“Now it’s going to be full-time,” he said. “I considered Louisiana Tech and LSU, but ultimately, being at McNeese and living at home will allow me to save a lot of money for graduate school.”

Vinson is eyeing a career in law or government.

“I wanted to be a business major until my sophomore year,” he said. “Then I took an AP government class and fell in love with it and felt that was a pretty cool idea. I enjoyed studying the different laws, the Supreme Court and everything. I can see myself being a politician in the future, but I am not sure yet.”