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Eastside's Miller, Carroll's Spesard named NFF Chapter Scholar-Athletes of the Year

June 2013 graduates Justin Miller of Eastside High School and Ryan Spesard of Carroll High School have been named National Football Foundation Scholar-Athletes of the Year for Northeast Indiana and Northwest Indiana, respectively.

The announcement came in West Lafayette during the NFF Honors Dinner "Celebrating Our Legends IX," hosted by the Joe Tiller Chapter of Northwest Indiana June 10th at the Purdue Memorial Union before a crowd of 400 football enthusiasts.

They were chosen from a group of seven high school football standouts who were singled out in May by NFF judges as the finalists from an original group of 29 scholar-athletes nominated by their coaches from throughout Northern Indiana. The other finalists were Austin Brown of Griffith, Spenser Kersey of Lowell, Jacob Layton of Tri-County, Sam McKay of Lafayette Jefferson and Brandon Rooze of Benton Central. The two trophy winners both emerge as candidates for the first-ever Indiana Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.

The "competition" is based 40 percent on academics, 40 percent on athletics and 20 percent on citizenship, leadership and character. The state's top scholar-athlete will be announced July 18 at the North-South All-Star Game Banquet in Indianapolis and will be a candidate for the Midwest Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor.

Miller, a defensive back in football who earned all-conference honors at Eastside, posted a 4.0 grade point average and scored 2,050 on the SAT to earn admission to Wabash College to study chemistry and pre-law. Spesard, a quarterback, running back and safety in his four years of varsity play at Carroll, had a 4.17 GPA and scored 2,070 on the SAT to earn admission to Purdue University to study engineering.

They were joined by eight other individuals honored at the annual dinner in West Lafayette for their impressive accomplishments in the last year, representing a wide range of talent and charm.

Olympic David Boudia accomplished the ultimate dream, winning an Olympic Gold Medal in platform diving last summer in London with a spectacular finish on the final day of the Olympics after earning a Bronze Medal in synchronized diving during the first week of the event. The Noblesville, Ind., product, who earned six NCAA championships and eight Big Ten championships while diving for Purdue, received the chapter's top award, the Gold Medallion.

NFL Executive of the Year Ryan Grigson, a former Highland High School and Purdue University football player who last year became the Indianapolis Colts General Manager and transformed the Colts into a playoff team through many tough decisions and brilliant acquisitions to earn the honor of NFL Executive of the Year, received the chapter's Drew Brees Mental Toughness Award.

Miss Indiana MerrieBeth Cox, who has been Purdue's Golden Girl for the past five years, capped off a great year as Miss Indiana by advancing to the top 12 in the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas earlier this year. The Roselle, Ill., product came to Purdue as a world class baton twirler and won numerous national championships. She perform at the Honors Dinner and received the "Purdue is Proud of You" Award.

The chapter's Distinguished American Award was given to Noble Kizer, long-time Lafayette resident, chapter member and son of Noble E. Kizer, one of Purdue's greatest coaches and early athletic directors prior to his death at age 40, nearly 73 years ago. The award recognizes both Kizers for their outstanding accomplishments and loyalty to our nation.

Also, the chapter honored Mark Ebelhar, who stepped down last fall after 27 years of volunteer work with West Lafayette Little Gridiron, including the last 15 as head of the program. He helped to coach and guide many young players who eventually went on to play high school and college football. Ebelhar received the Bernie Flowers Award for Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award.
 

This year's Courage Award, which is sponsored by the Lafayette Journal & Courier, had co-recipients -- seven-year-old Cooper Fulmer of Winamac and 18-year-old Patrick Mackey of Lafayette, for their inspirational battles with leukemia that tied together the athletic communities for Winamac and Lafayette Central Catholic high schools.

Also recognized was Jamie Marsh, wife of Munster High School coach Leroy Marsh, as the Arnette Tiller Service To Football Award winner, presented by the Indiana Football Coaches Association. She had been honored at the IFCA Hall of Fame Banquet in Merrillville in May.

Among the speakers and presenters on stage were Purdue's new football coach Darrell Hazell, emeritus football coach Joe Tiller and director of the athletics Morgan Burke while Purdue President Mitch Daniels and New Orleans Saints All-Pro quarterback Drew Brees provided video presentations.

In addition, the dinner paid tribute to the Region 1 and 4 high school all-stars, who were candidates to compete for positions on the North Squad in the annual North-South All-Star Game in July.