More Accolades for Bulldogs: Strittmatter, Coffey Win Prestigious Student-Athlete Awards

Batavia's football program proved its mettle by winning a state Class 6A state championship on Nov. 30. But the measure of a program doesn't just come in wins and losses, it comes from the achievements of student athletes in that program.

Two examples of Batavia's success received national and state recognition this past week.

Former Batavia Bulldog Zach Strittmatter, now a Washington University in St. Louis freshman wide receiver, has been named one of five winners of the 2013 National Football Foundation (NFF) National High School Scholar-Athlete Award, as announced by the NFF and College Hall of Fame.

His former teammate, state championship quarterback Micah Coffey, was named one of three NFF Scholar-Athlete Award recipients in the Chicago area.

If Coffey does not already have a full tuition scholarship, he will receive a college tuition scholarship of $5,000 to the college he will attend. The other Chicago-area winners are Collin Holte of St. Edward Central Catholic High School and Mike Mercado of Hiawatha High School.

Strittmatter, who was the Chicago Metro Chapter honoree from the Midwest Region, joins University of Maryland’s Adam Greene, Nick Peabody of Princeton University, Brown University’s John Pena and Weston Steelhammer of the United States Air Force Academy as one of five winners. All five are playing college football and are being recognized for their previous accomplishments in high school.

“I was very surprised to hear that I received the award. It means a lot to me to be chosen out of 3,500 student-athletes for this prestigious honor,” Strittmatter said in an article on the Washington University website.

A 2013 graduate of Batavia High School and four-year letterman at wide receiver, Strittmatter recorded 126 career catches for 2,129 career yards and 20 touchdowns, the article said.

He will travel to New York City to be honored during the NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon, presented by Under Armour, on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the Waldorf Astoria.

About the NFF

With 120 chapters and more than 12,000 members, the NFF Chapter Network impacts more than 500,000 student-athletes at 4,800 high schools in 47 states each year. The centerpiece of their efforts are the annual chapter awards banquets, which recognize more than 3,500 of the nation’s top scholar-athletes and distribute more than $1 million in scholarships. From this pool of 3,500 scholar-athletes, the chapters nominate a group of finalists, and a national committee makes the final selection of the five winners, one from each region of the country, as the recipients of NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete Awards.

SOURCES: The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, Inc., Batavia High School and the Washington University in St. Louis website.