Albert Gallatin
Erin Wright and Ryan Jenkins have been chosen to represent Albert Gallatin High School in the Davis & Davis Student/Athlete Scholarship Program. BY ROB BURCHIANTI
Herald-Standard
Erin Wright finally met her match.
The Albert Gallatin senior has been virtually a whirlwind of activity just about her entire high school career, but a knee injury that required surgery forced her to alter her hectic lifestyle.
She wasn’t very happy about it.
“I was going nuts,” Wright said. “That really held me down. I just got off crutches on Thursday (May 30). I’m getting back into the swing of things now, though. Physical therapy is going really well.”
Wright, who owns a 4.14 grade point average and is 15th out of her class of 308, was selected as the top female student/athlete at Albert Gallatin High School and will receive a $500 scholarship through the Davis & Davis Student/Athlete Scholarship Program.
The program, sponsored by Davis & Davis Law Firm and coordinated by the Herald-Standard, will culminate with a banquet to be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, June 16 at Shady Side Inn.
Wright, the 18-year-old daughter of Kirk and Debora Wright of Masontown, was a four-year letterman in soccer and softball, and a two-year letterman in cross country for the Lady Colonials.
Academically, Wright earned high honors every semester at AG and took AP (Advanced Placement) classes in chemistry, calculus and English. She was a member of the National Honor Society, Who’s Who Among American High School Students (three years), and Outstanding Students of America.
As a freshman, she was honored by the American Legion. Her junior year brought her the Rotary Youth Leadership award. She also has won the National Student/Athlete award.
Wright was a member of many groups in high school, such as the national anthem singers, the Interact Club, the debate team, the math team, the drama club, student council and Students Against Destructive Decisions. She was vice president of the latter two groups as a senior, was class treasurer as a freshman, sophomore and junior, and participated in school musicals as a sophomore and junior.
Wright’s athletic activities weren’t limited to her three varsity sports. She played junior varsity basketball as a freshman and intramural volleyball as a junior and senior.
That wasn’t enough for Wright, though.
“I played in a lot of recreational leagues, too,” she said. “I played Junior Olympic softball and Cup soccer during the summer. I played in the traveling softball league, in the Fayette County Youth Soccer Club and in the South Union Indoor Soccer league.”
In fact, one of Wright’s most memorable sporting moments came in Cup soccer last summer.
“We were in a tournament and playing our fourth game of the day, and it went to a shootout,” Wright recalled. “I got picked to be the last shooter. I made it and we won. That was pretty cool. It really built my confidence.”
Wright participates in the community as well. She is heavily involved with the Masontown United Methodist Church, has participated in roadway cleanups, and is an annual drive participant and a volunteer worker for the State Theater and the Masontown Public Library.
With such an enormous schedule, it would be hard to think Wright could squeeze in a job somewhere.
Think again.
She has worked at Rich’s Garden Center (1999, 2000) and at Miller’s Greenhouse (2001) during the past three summers and is working at the latter again this year.
How does she do it?
“I’m fairly organized, and, to tell you the truth, I go crazy when I don’t have a bunch of stuff to do,” Wright said with a laugh. “I don’t really like to have breaks. I think everything helped keep me focused. I don’t think I would’ve been as successful if I hadn’t done all that I did.”
Wright, who has one sister, 20-year-old Jenni, will attend Indiana University of Pa. on a four-year Army ROTC scholarship where she plans to major in criminology and minor in psychology.
A midfielder in soccer, she was a team captain her freshman and senior seasons. She also was captain of the softball team her senior year. The center fielder suffered her injury after only one game, however.
Wright tore her ACL during soccer season, but she put off surgery until after softball season and wore a knee brace. Then, after a successful opener against Uniontown, Wright tore her medial meniscus during practice.
“It was so disappointing,” Wright said. “But I really had a good experience in softball. Coach (Randy) Brooks … I just think he’s awesome. He was such a positive influence and a great motivational guy.”
Another positive influence came from Wright’s family.
“Both of my parents have been very supportive of me,” Wright said. “We always have our communication lines open. I feel comfortable talking to them about anything. Our family has always been pretty close, and that’s one of the things I’m most grateful about. I’m lucky to have parents that care about me, check on me, and can tell when something’s wrong.
“I’ll never be thankful enough for what they’ve done for me. If I ever have kids, my hope is that I can be as good a parent as they have been to me.”