The City and County Athletes of the Year awards date to 1950, growing to female achievement in 1979, and is regarded as one of the pinnacle recognition awards for Indianapolis-area high school senior student athletes.
These awards are geared toward athletic achievement, but almost every winner over the years has exhibited impressive credentials in athletics, academics and in their personal lives. Generally, multi-sport athletes are given consideration over single-sport athletes. However, in some cases, a single-sport athlete has been so outstanding that he or she has been selected as the winner.
The Marion County Athletic Association is proud to announce the 2021-22 award winners:
City Female Athlete of the Year
Kelsey Waggoner, Cardinal Ritter
Waggoner is in the conversation for one of the best athletes in school history with her combination of work ethic, scholastic achievement, athletic skill and uplifting positive attitude.
She was recruited to play volleyball, basketball and softball, ultimately deciding to play volleyball at Hanover College. Over the course of her high school career, Waggoner earned many team and individual awards in athletics while maintaining a 4.2 grade-point average. She is a team captain in volleyball, basketball and softball and led those programs to a total of four sectional titles and multiple runners-up. She lettered all four years in each sport.
Waggoner earned six all-City and six all-conference awards in her three sports. She joins her mother Katie Waggoner (Murphy) in achieving the prestigious honor of being named the female City Athlete of the Year. Her mother earned the award in 1992.
City Male Athlete of the Year
Brock Buckley, Covenant Christian
Buckley graduates from Covenant Christian as one of the most decorated individuals in school history, earning nine varsity letters in three sports — one in football, four in basketball and four in baseball.
In his lone season of football during his senior season, Buckley earned first-team All-City honors at wide receiver as well as Class A senior all-state honors. In 10 games, he caught 32 passes for 797 yards and 12 touchdowns.
In basketball, Buckley was selected as team captain as a senior and graduates as the winningest player in program history with 64 wins. He helped the team to back-to-back sectional titles and finished with 1,133 points, 530 rebounds, 188 assists, 170 steals and 97 blocked shots. Buckley holds six program records. He was named All-City honorable mention as a junior and second team All-City as a senior.
Buckley is a standout in baseball, currently holding a 6-2 pitching record with a 1.73 earned run average and 62 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings. He earned numerous program records, amassing 183 strikeouts in 144 innings with an ERA of 2.43. Buckley was named All-City first team for baseball, giving him city honors in all three sports as a senior.
Buckley was selected as the school’s Timothy Award winner, the highest honor for Covenant Christian student athletes for character, leadership and humility. Buckley will play football and baseball at Indiana Wesleyan.
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
