GALT, CA (MPG) - At Galt High’s graduation Assistant Principal Alan Posey announced Akayla Joy Gunter and Aidan Hall as Scholar Athletes of the Year.

“Athletics has been a huge part of many of your lives up until this point,” said Posey. “I have been lucky enough to guide some of that at Galt High School for the past eight years. As a Galt High graduate and ‘athlete’ myself, it is an honor to be able to recognize two of the top athletes of the class of 2024. It is shown year after year that athletic involvement and academics go hand in hand. Students that participate in athletics consistently have higher GPAs than those that do not. To be able to excel in the classroom and athletics takes a special individual.”

“It is my honor to be able to present the female and male scholar athlete of the year awards today,” explained Posey. “These awards are earned by athletes that make a profound difference on the court, field, etc. and also earn GPAs in the top 10% or higher.”

Akayla Joy Gunter was a Warrior Volleyball player for four years, played basketball for the past two seasons and led the team in points overall and per game this year.

In addition, she helped Warrior Baseball each spring as a manager. As a student Gunter is ranked number 10 in her class overall with well above a 4.0 GPA. 

Aidan Hall, the male scholar athlete of the year, played varsity baseball as a starter for four years. He was a large part of Galt’s recent success in baseball and has played in more playoff baseball games than anyone in recent memory. In addition, he has thrown more innings and hit more home runs in the past four years than any Warrior. 

In the classroom he is the definition of a scholar and finished with close to a 4.0. He will be playing baseball for Long Beach State next year and will undoubtably make a huge difference there. A true Dirt Bag.

A humble Hall expressed his gratitude. “I am very thankful for the recognition and glad that all my years of hard work paid off,” said Hall. “It has been a pleasure to play for the Galt Warriors. I want to thank all my coaches and Mr. Posey for all their support helping me get to the next level.”

Akayla Joy Gunter was not expecting the award. “I was surprised to get the Scholar Athlete of the Year award,” said Gunter. “I really thought it would have gone to someone ranked higher or who played more sports than me.”  

Along with being ranked 10th in the class, Gunter has a 4.25 cumulative GPA, was a four-year varsity starter in volleyball and a two-year varsity starter for basketball, where she led in every stat. She also was in the top three in the volleyball stats. Gunter also volunteered and managed the boys’ varsity baseball team for three years.

“Next year I am going to San Diego State University to double major in political science and history,” said Gunter. “I was extremely grateful to receive the award, especially from Mr. Posey and Mr. V.”