Norwalk Rotary announces Citizen Athlete winners

The Norwalk Rotary Club held its annual recognition of the Citizen Athlete awards to a pair of graduating Norwalk High School and St. Paul High School seniors on May 12. Earning the award from NHS was Bella Koelsch and Avery Scheel. For St. Paul, Garrett Cook and Samantha Gocsik were the award winners. The Rotary Club selects one make and female student-athlete each year from the two schools. The son of Steve and Fran Scheel, Avery has participated in Teen Leadership Corps (TLC) and has been inducted into National Honor Society. In athletics, he earned eight varsity letters in golf, basketball and baseball. Avery is the son Steve and Fran Scheel. He has been a leader in the community, in the classroom and a mentor to young athletes at Norwalk High School. Avery was an all-league golfer and district qualifier during his four years on the links for the Truckers. Avery also earned four academic letters and has been on the honor roll all four years with a 3.82 grade-point average. He will attend Ohio State University with a major in business and project management. Koelsch is the daughter of Brian and Julie and is also active in TLC and National Honor Society along with student council, key club and a student-athlete leadership council. In athletics, Bella earned seven varsity letters in soccer and track and field. She helped the soccer team to a pair of league titles and was also a two-time All-SBC Lake first team selection in 2023 and 2024. Academically, Bella also earned four academic letters and was on the Principal's List four times. She has a 3.96 GPA and will attend BGSU Firelands and major in nursing. Garrett Cook is the son of Jeff and Vanessa and has been in a wide-range of activities at St. Paul both in the classrom and the church. He was the captain of National Honor Society and was president this past fall for the marching band. He also participated in pep and concert band and the spring musicals. Also a student ambassador, Garrett was also in TLC and was on the liturgical ministry and Kairos teams through church. Also a four-time Academic ACE award winner (4.0 GPA), Garrett competed on the golf, basketball, baseball and competition cheer team in athletics for the Flyers. He came off the bench for the Firelands Conference and district championship basketball team, and was a key member of the state championship competition cheer team. Garrett is the Class of 2025 salutatorian with a 4.23 GPA and will major in chemical engineering at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. Gocsik is the daughter of Mike Gocsik and Dr. Rebecca Ware and is the Class of 2025 valedictorian. with a 4.28 GPA. She was class and student council president and also in National Honor Society. Through the church, Sam was on the liturgical minister and Kairos teams and was also a eucharistic minister. She was also a four-time Academic ACE winner. In athletics, Sam earned 11 varsity letters in golf, swimming and competition cheer. She won the low average award and was a captain in golf. Also a captain in swimming, Sam helped set a program record on the 400-meter freestyle relay team this past winter. Also in the winter, Gocsik was a team captain for the competition cheer team, which won a pair of OASSA state titles in game day and traditional routines. Gocsik will major in biology at Ohio State University.