The FCIAC awards Exemplary Scholar-Athlete honors to players from its 16 member schools every season. Each week, the league will be announcing several of those award-winners with bios and photos on FCIAC.net.
Here are the fourth weekly honorees for the Fall, 2024 season from Ridgefield, Staples, and Trumbull.
Caroline Baker – Ridgefield
This cheer team captain with the weighted GPA of 4.81 is currently taking all AP classes and on track to complete 13 by the end of her senior year.
Caroline, who was selected to the 2024 All-FCIAC Cheerleading Team, is the president of Ridgefield High School’s National Honor Society, and the Key Club. She was also the recipient of the Merrimack College Book Award.
Caroline volunteers with the National Charity Leagues, is an ambassador for programs at school, and she helps build houses in the summer as part of the Appalachia Service Project, earning the Gold Level Presidential Service Award twice.
Ben Voellmicke – Ridgefield
Ben has a weighted GPA of 4.75 while taking AP and honors classes and has been on the high honor roll every quarter of high school.
He has been a four-year member of separate boys’ varsity soccer teams and a three-year member of separate boys’ varsity basketball teams after having spent his freshman and sophomore years attending King School in Stamford.
Ben is a member of the National Honor Society and manager of the Holland League of SCOR. He is also an assistant teacher and co-founder of the Youth Social Action Committee at his religious school.
Ben is planning to play soccer at the Division I level next year and will study economics.
Katie Fitzgerald – Staples
Katie, who has been on honor roll every year and has a 4.11 GPA taking mainly honors and AP classes, is committed to the admissions process at Williams College to play lacrosse.
She is a three-year varsity soccer defender and senior captain for the 2024 season.
When Katie was a sophomore she helped the Wreckers win a state championship with a 4-1 victory over Cheshire in the 2022 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Girls Soccer Class LL Tournament final.
In addition, Katie is the captain of the girls’ varsity lacrosse teams and she’s been a starting defender since her freshman year. Last year she was selected to the 2024 All-FCIAC Girls Lacrosse Tier I Second Team and the All-State Second Team.
Katie is also a member of the U20 Irish National Lacrosse Team and she played at the World Championships in Hong Kong.
Katie is heavily involved in volunteering for youth sports, fundraising for multiple community organizations, and she is an active member of the Teen Awareness Group at Staples.
Nathan Smith – Staples
Nathan is a senior captain of the football team who has achieved a 3.8 GPA while taking mostly AP and honors classes.
This three-sport athlete has played football and basketball all four years at Staples, and he’s been a baseball player for two years. Last fall Nathan was selected to the 2023 FCIAC All-West Football Team.
He is the leader of his club called Athletes in Action and very involved in youth football in Westport.
Nathan plans on continuing to be a student-athlete by playing football at Trinity College next year.
Samara McGlynn – Trumbull
This senior captain of Trumbull’s girls swimming and diving team is a member of five national honor societies who has achieved a 5.121 weighted GPA while taking mostly AP and honors courses.
Samara is an AP Scholar with Distinction, an officer for the National Spanish Honor Society and National English Honor Society, and a recipient of the St. Lawrence Book Award.
She is also a member of Best Buddies, the Connecticut Council of Language Teachers (CT COLT) poetry recitation club, and a senior link crew leader for her school.
Samara also volunteers for area community organizations. She’s been a three-time participant in St. Vincent’s Swim Across the Sound and she helped organize a swim-a-thon as a fundraiser for LivFree, the organization which was created to provide moments of joy to kids and families fighting pediatric cancer.
Luke Verna – Trumbull
Luke has achieved a 4.7 weighted GPA and is a member of multiple national honor societies.
He has been a member of Trumbull High School’s boys’ soccer team for all four years of high school and during the spring sports season he runs for the boys’ outdoor track and field team.
Luke was nominated for the P.T. Barnum Festival early this year for academics and leadership and he volunteers every summer with the Appalachian Service Project and in the winter with Unified Basketball.