Ben Mast - All State

The award just keep on coming in for Ben Mast. This Monday, he was named to the 1st team of the All-State Academic team. This award is picked out of all the seniors in the state, and is a combination of both academic achievement as well as varsity playing achievements.

On Monday, I announced that Ben had become the first Bethany player to be awarded All-District based on his play. Now he has become the first player to be honored in the Academic All-State. Admittedly, I am now more involved with the Coaches Association, and am more aware of what awards they give and how to nominate for them. We've had several players in the past (Luke Hostetter, Daniel Buschert, Johnny Kauffman, Jared Schwartzentruber, Jonny Shenk - well, basically the whole class of 2009) that may have received this award if I had known about it.

Still, it's an impressive feat. The requirements are quite high, as the recipients must have at least an A average and a high SAT or ACT score. Those are the requirements to be considered for Honorable Mention, with the requirement for 1st team being much higher.

And this is a very prestigious award as well. Consider: 168 players around the state make the All-District teams. That is considered quite an honor. For Academic All-State 1st team, only 71 players received the award.

So, it's been a good "Award Season" for Ben Mast. Congratulations on your achievements Ben!