McGrath one of 26 named to Illinois All-State Academic team

By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com

Brisa McGrath didn’t get any advance notification.

The Mahomet-Seymour senior had no hint what was going to transpire late Tuesday afternoon when the Illinois High School Association put out a press release and one of its administrators, Stacey Lambert, took to twitter with the news.

As part of her after-school routine, McGrath said, “I was scrolling through Twitter.”

She was intrigued by one of the posts.

“I saw a video of the IHSA announcing who made the All-State Academic team,” McGrath said.

Twenty six names were mentioned — 13 girls and 13 boys — “and I heard my name,” she said.

“I was really surprised because I didn’t expect to be chosen.”

For more than a quarter of a century, the IHSA has honored an elite group of students who also participate in a minimum of two extra-curricular activities while maintaining a minimum grade-point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.

A cross-country and track runner, honor roll student McGrath met all of  the qualifications.

Still, she had good reason not to expect to hear her name.

Until Tuesday, Mahomet-Seymour had never had a female representative on the IHSA All-State Academic First Team.

The only other female representative from the school was Kristen Belyea, who earned honorable mention status in 2013.

The award itself wasn’t a surprise for McGrath.

“I became aware that there was All-State Academic team as a freshman when a senior at my school (Jack Hyde) also won the award,” McGrath said. “When I heard about that as a freshman, I thought it was really cool, and I wanted to possibly be a part of it as a senior.”

It wasn’t an overriding goal, however.

“I didn’t look into it much,” McGrath said, “so I did not really know what it consisted of, and so it did not motivate me as much as my desires to excel in both academics and running.”

Hyde is the only other M-S student to have received Academic All-State First Team recognition.

McGrath recognizes the magnitude of the award.

“Getting on to the All-State Academic team means so much to me because it is such a big honor,” she said. “I am so happy to have gotten this award. This recognition is definitely one of the top recognitions I have received.”

Mahomet-Seymour achieved another first with the Tuesday announcement.

For the only time since the IHSA began the program during the 1993-94 school year, two M-S students were honored in the same year.

Senior Nicholas Morrow was an honorable mention selection.

Every high school in the state can nominate one male and one female student.

The first team consists of 26 students. The honorable mention group consists of 50 students.

M-S has had a student on the honorable mention list two years in a row. In 2018, Garret Williams was chosen.

McGrath, a member of last fall’s Class 2A 10th-place state girls’ cross-country team, has found it challenging to be a student-athlete.

“Being a student-athlete can be very difficult because of finding time to balance school and sports,” she said. “I found it hard to get enough sleep with all my practices and homework, and I also found it hard to get all my studies in after late-night track meets.

“To deal with this, I usually go to sleep early and wake up early to do my homework without wasting time or getting distracted, and on days I have meets, I try to do my homework on the bus to and from meets to minimize the amount of homework I have when I get home.”

Her favorite subject, she said, is mathematics because “it’s fun to solve problems, and I find calculus interesting.”

She had impressive numbers last fall in cross-country, placing 27th at state in a field of 216 finishers. She was also one of six east Central Illinois girls to run a 3-mile cross-country course in less than 18 minutes.

McGrath’s season-best time was 17:59.

In addition to athletics, McGrath has also been involved with M-S’ Science Olympiad Team.

McGrath is undecided on a college, but hopes to pursue running, if not on the varsity team, then on a club team.

She intends to major in either material science or chemical engineering.

Her long-term career goals are well-established.

“I want to do something that has to do with green energy,” she said. “Ten years from now, I hope to be working to help make green energy sources more convenient to use and living somewhere else in the world.”

McGrath credits her participation in athletics in helping her achieve success in the classroom.

“Sports have taught me so many helpful lessons that have carried on outside of running,” she said. “Being in sports has made me learn how to manage my time and learn how to balance out studying with sleeping and practices.

“Also, the discipline I’ve learned in running transferred into the classroom because it taught me how to spend lots of time practicing something in order to get the results I want.”

After listening to Tuesday’s IHSA video presentation, McGrath didn’t wait long to share the news.

“I called my mom to tell her,” she said.

M-S IHSA Academic All-Staters

First Team Selections

YEAR NAME

2019 Brisa McGrath

2016 Jack Hyde

Honorable Mention Selections

YEAR NAME

2019 Nicholas Morrow

2018 Garret Williams

2015 Thomas Bane

2013 Kristen Belyea

2009 Jacob Mahaffey

2008 Michael Campion

2005 Andrew Nevill

1997 Phillip Alexander

NOTE: Program started in 1994.