Emily Fisher is Hoops & Heroes essay contest winner
Emily Fisher has had an outstanding athletic career at Uniontown High School, but nobody expected her to make it to the semifinals of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament. Not yet, anyway.
But that’s where Fisher is headed, thanks to the Pennsylvania-American Water Company.
Fisher was selected among 11 national grand prize winners in the company’s second annual “Hoops & Heroes” essay competition. Her prize includes a $1,000 educational savings bond and a trip to semifinal games at the NCAA Women’s Final Four, to be held in Atlanta, Ga., April 6.
Fisher received her awards at a surprise assembly held Wednesday morning at the high school. As she sat among her classmates at the assembly, she had no idea they were all called together to honor her. It began to sink in as Dave Jones, Operations Superintendent of the Uniontown/Connellsville branch of Pennsylvania-American, began reading a list of her accomplishments.
“It was a total shock,” Fisher said. She added that she entered the competition early in the school year and had put it out of her mind not long after submitting her essay. “It was an essay about female leaders.”
Fisher will enroll at the University of Pittsburgh in the fall and plans to attend Pitt’s Greensburg Campus for a year or two before transferring to the Oakland Campus. She is thinking about playing basketball and/or softball at Pitt-Greensburg.
She excels in both sports, as well as girls soccer, at Uniontown. Fisher was selected All-County in all three sports. She also is a member of the National Honor Society and has been selected three times as Rotary Club student of the month.
Fisher’s bags aren’t packed just yet for her trip, but the excitement began to build when she realized what was ahead.
“I haven’t followed it that closely,” she said. “But I have followed it more than the men’s bracket.”
Chances are she’ll keep a closer eye on it from now until she gets to see the semifinals.
Fisher is a daughter of Dan and Linda Fisher of Farmington.