Schools
WHIZ KID OF THE WEEK: Alysha Davis
Pikesville High School basketball player wins $36,000 McCormick Unsung Heroes award.
Whiz Kid’s Name: Alysha Davis
Whiz Kid's Age: 18
Whiz Kid's School: Pikesville High School
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Whiz Kid's Accomplishment: Won the 71st annual McCormick Unsung Hero award, given to athletes who work hard to help their teammates and are true team players.
Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness: She does whatever coaches ask and is headed to Chowan University in North Carolina, where she hopes to play basketball.
Find out what's happening in Pikesvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Coaches and athletic directors like to say nice things about kids, but those at Pikesville will tell you even more than normal about senior Alysha Davis.
"I wish I had a whole school full of Alysha Davises," said Pikesville athletic director Ted Winner. "They put their team and teammates above themselves, day in and day out."
"What a super kid," said Pikesville softball coach Mike Behrens.
That's why her winning the McCormick Unsung Hero Award on May 2 was so well-received at Pikesville.
She was a true warrior this past winter on the girls' basketball team, one wracked with injuries. That's what earned her the nomination for the Charles Perry McCormick Scholarship Award that has a four-year value of $36,000.
Davis said she always works hard to serve as a leader on her team. "That's what I try to be," she said. "I can't explain how much this [scholarship] means to me."
She played all five positions this season. She did anything the Panthers needed, often playing against much bigger girls inside.
Davis also played goalie on the varsity soccer team last fall. There's no question that Pikesville High School will miss her after this year.
Also winning the award was Michael Wright, of the Eastern Technical High School football team.
They were among 107 candidates for the award, from 67 Baltimore area public, private, parochial and independent schools. Davis and Wright are seniors, a requirement of the program, according to a news release from Business Wire.
More than 700 Baltimore area officials, school administrators, coaches and family members attended the event, held at the Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn.
The Unsung Heroes program, established in 1940 by the late Charles P. McCormick, celebrates student-athletes who facilitate team success without seeking individual recognition, a news release from Baltimore County Public Schools states.