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Introducing the 2024 Southwest Florida Sports Awards Scholar-Athlete of the Year Finalists

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The Southwest Florida Scholar-Athlete of the Year award honors those who excel athletically, academically, and in the community.

Each area school was asked to nominate at least one athlete, male or female, for the 2023-24 school year. Based on those submissions, three finalists were selected by a group of judges who reviewed the nominations.

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The winner will be announced during the Southwest Florida Sports Award Show Thursday at Suncoast Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College. The doors open at 6 p.m. with the show starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are still available online at https://sportsawards.usatoday.com/swflorida. No tickets will be sold at the venue.

This year’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year finalists are: Tyler Feichthaler of Oasis High School, Rebecca Van’t Hoff of Barron Collier High School, and Madison White of Estero High School.

Tyler Feichthaler

School: Oasis

Sports: Tennis and golf

Highlights: A National Merit Scholar, Feichthaler earned a 1540 on the SAT. He had a 5.80 GPA and is ranked at the top of his class. Feichthalter wrote the Oasis Fight Song, music, and lyrics, and performed in the Honors Choir at Carnegie Hall in NYC. He placed second in several regional piano competitions including the Steinway Young Artist Piano Competition in April 2024 at FGCU. He was a member of the FEMA Youth Council representing the entire Southeastern US and a member of the City of Cape Coral Youth Council. Feichthalter, who will attend Georgetown in the fall, has logged more than 600 hours of volunteer work during high school.

Feichthaler earned seven varsity letters, serving as captain of the Oasis golf and tennis teams. In tennis, he teamed up with his brother at No. 1 doubles to reach the varsity tennis district semifinals for the first time in school history.

Rebecca Van’t Hoff

School: Barron Collier

Sports: Swimming, basketball, and track and field

Highlights: Rebecca had a 5.75 GPA, taking 14 AP and 17 honors courses, and scored a 34 on the ACT while being named an AP Scholar with Distinction. During her senior year, she was the Type One Diabetes Club president and founder, a Special Olympics volunteer, and volunteered at Poinciana Elementary for children with special needs, an Osceola Reading Matters volunteer, a member of the pre-med club, and a T2 Swim Team member. She also attended an Advanced Medicine Leadership Program at Johns Hopkins University. She was a nanny to four children outside of school during her years at Barron Collier.

Athletically she lettered in swimming, basketball, and track. She made it to state in three swimming events, was the basketball team captain, and finished runner-up in Class 3A in the javelin.

Madison White

School: Estero

Sport: Soccer

Highlights: White finished high school with a 5.88 GPA and scored a 32 on the ACT. She earned the Cambridge Outstanding Learner Award with Merit and has been on the A-Honor Roll for the last four years. She has served as Primary Representative on Lee County Superintendent’s Student Advisory Committee and has volunteered her time making sandwiches for the homeless. She will attend the University of Florida in the fall.

She’ll attend Florida as a member of their Honors College, double majoring in Microbiology and Kinesiology on a pre-medical track. White was a captain and MVP on the Estero soccer team and earned the Outstanding Leadership award.

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