Mt. Lebanon senior named a WPIAL scholar-athlete
Ryan Frank of Mt. Lebanon was a recipient of a WPIAL James Collins Scholar-Athlete Award. The senior was one of 20 finalists for the 33rd annual scholarship award, selected from a pool of 146 nominees.
Frank excelled in swimming for the Blue Devils. A four-year letter winner and two-year captain, he won WPIAL gold and PIAA bronze medals in the 100-yard breaststroke races this winter.
Frank, who led the Blue Devils to a section title as a junior, shattered the pool record at Mt. Lebanon in the 100 breast and the 200 medley relay mark at Bethel Park.
Additionally, Frank collected all-state honors in the 100 breast and 200-yard medley relay. He garnered NISCA All-America accolades as a senior and U.S. Swimming scholastic All-America recognition as a junior. He also met the national time standards for the U.S. Swimming Speedo Summer Championships and U.S. Swimming Winter Juniors Championships.
Frank also made a splash in the classroom. He compiled a 5.3 GPA and earned admittance into Mt. Lebanon’s prestigious Cum Laude Society. He is a National Honor Society member. He earned a seat on the student athlete council and belongs to LeboSTARS. He serves as president of Lebo’s Future Business Leaders of America.
In his spare time, Frank participates in the high school orchestra as well as the Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestra. He co-founded Violins for All and Start-Turn Clinic.
Frank volunteered his time to co-chair the Swim-for-SHIM food drive. He was a meet volunteer and swim instructor for the Mt. Lebanon Aqua Club.
Frank plans to pursue a degree in business. He has been accepted at Carnegie Mellon University.
Among the other 20 award winners included two from the South Hills region. They were Katelyn Jankovic from South Park and Ryan Pajak from Ringgold.
The WPIAL Scholarship Fund was created to award scholarships annually to student-athletes from schools and school districts comprising Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) District VII. Since 1992, the league has given $718,000 in scholarships to the James Collins Scholar-Athlete Award recipients.
In other WPIAL news, four area athletic directors were elected to the board of directors as senior high representatives. They included: Laura Grimm from Bethel Park; John Grogan from Mt. Lebanon; Mark Elphinstone from Keystone Oaks and Brian Geyer from Peters Township.