LEXINGTON — Elyana Weaver is Lexington, through and through.
And she wouldn't have it any other way.
The 2023-24 Mansfield News Journal Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year really had no choice but to bleed purple and gold and represent the Lexington community with pride.
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And boy did she.
Weaver's father, Grant, is a 1987 Lexington grad and a life-long resident. He teaches in the district and has served in numerous coaching positions in various sports from basketball to track and beyond. His love for Lexington rubbed off on Elyana and she hasn't let go of it since.
"This area is the perfect area to grow up in," Elyana said. "I grew up with the same group of people. My dad's classmates' kids are my friends which gave me a sense of community from a very early age."
And all she wanted to do was represent her community with pride and bring positivity to the village. She also wanted to represent her family the only way she knew how. She wanted to shed the Weaver name in a positive light because that is how her dad did it and how her two older siblings, Garet and Carina, did when they donned the purple and gold.
"Being able to watch them do their different sports was so cool," Elyana said. "They gave me such a great example to follow. I wanted to play everything when I was little. I played soccer before deciding to run cross country instead and that was a great decision. I played softball with my friends and having that connection with all of them gave us a bigger connection than just being classmates."
A connection almost like family.
Family foundation set Elyana Weaver up for success
Grant and Teresa Weaver both grew to become educators both in the classroom and on the athletic fields. When they decided to start a family, they knew the perfect foundation on which they would raise their three children. First, they were students and grades were the main priority. Then came the athletic side where anything less than 100% was unacceptable. When something is started, it is also finished with every ounce of effort they can possibly give on any given day.
"The girl didn't stand a chance," Grant said. "Being raised by two educators for parents, it was always an emphasis on the student part of student-athlete. If you don't you are set up for failure because the academic side is what carries you through life and our kids learned that from a young age. All three of our kids had that intransitive motivation. They knew that this is what we do."
It most definitely is what the Weavers do. Elyana carried a 3.968 nonweighted grade point average through her four years of high school and an incredible 4.5 weighted GPA after taking five college classes through Lexington's College Credit Plus program. She took two as a junior and three as a senior while also being a member of the National Honor Society, Ohio Cardinal Conference Leadership and Key Club.
She is the epitome of the term student-athlete.
The Weavers use the term 'family' very seriously. There is their direct family and then there are influential people in their lives the welcome in as honorary members. One of those members is legendary Lexington Cross Country Coach Denise Benson.
Benson coached both Carina and Elyana leading the way for the girls to be a part of four state championships and a runner-up finish.
"The Weaver family is part of my family now and I couldn't be more blessed to have coaches two of their children," Benson said. "The journey has been amazing because of the support of their family. It goes so much deeper because we carry a lot of the same beliefs in faith and values in the classroom. I can't say enough about Elyana as a young lady. We will miss each other so much."
The two have shared some incredible accomplishments together. In 2020, when Elyana was a freshman, Lady Lex won the Division II state cross country championship finishing off a stretch of four straight state championships and five in the last six years with two runner-up finishes mixed in. From 2010-2020, Lady Lex won five state titles and took runner-up honors three times.
But that 2020 year was something special for Elyana. She was just a freshman running with program legends like Halle Hamilton Lily Weeks and Joanna Halfhill. Weaver was the third-best runner on the 2020 team as she took 42nd overall with a time of 19:46.9 to help Lex bring home the state title.
"What set Elyana apart is you saw the drive she had to succeed in the classroom," Benson said. "When you have someone who wants to succeed in academics, it is easy to get them to care just as much in athletics. It is a blessing for a coach because she wants to get it done on the track or in cross country just as bad as she wants to in the classroom. I am so proud of the way she balanced that. She had a lot of pressure in the Fall running cross country, keeping up with her academics and figuring out where she wanted to continue in college. It weighed on her, but she exceled with passion in her heart."
Elyana Weaver wanted to make coaches, teachers and self proud
The support system for Weaver is unwavering. It didn't matter what she did in the classroom or in her choice of athletics, she was always going to have a gang of positivity in her corner making sure she knew just how proud they are of her.
On the flip side, Weaver wanted to thank them by doing everything she could to make them proud. And also make herself proud.
"It is kind of what we do, but it is also for myself a little bit, too," Elyana said. "I never wanted to let myself down and always knew I could do better in both academics and athletics. That self pride is huge. There is always that doubt like when you dread taking a test, but when it is over with, you realize it wasn't that bad."
It was exactly the way she approached her junior year of high school. It was widely known that her junior year was going to be one of the toughest academic years she would face in high school. She ended up loving it and learned how to balance the busy life of a high school student-athlete. It led to her first nomination for the News Journal Scholar-Athlete Award and landed her on the Top 10 list as a junior. She saw her GPA swell to a 3.9 while being named Ohio Cardinal Conference Female Track Athlete of the Year and an All-Ohioan in the 4x800 and 800-meter run.
"Sports teach you so many life skills and that year, I learned a lot of them," Elyana said. "Having Coach Benson as a teacher at the high school was a huge help because I got to see her throughout the day and talk about different things which helped me put things in perspective heading into my senior year."
But the desire to make herself and her family proud came to fruition during that faithful day at Fortress Obetz, home of the Ohio High School State Cross Country Championships, back in 2020. Elyana's sister had graduated in 2019 leaving the program with three state titles and a runner-up finish. And now, it was her turn to leave her mark which she did with flying colors.
"That year was so interesting because of COVID and all of those different obstacles," Elyana said. "Every year is special to me, but that year was super special. Looking back on it, it is almost like I don't remember it because I was just kind of there and was told to go run and that is all I did. I didn't comprehend at the time, but thinking back on it now, I was proud to be a part of that team and achieve that."
Elyana wasn't the only one. Grant, who is a regular at running to different points of cross country courses to offer words of encouragement, remembers smiling ear to ear.
"She has had some great role models before her," Grant said. "I remember messaging Mackenna Curtis-Collins just because she was a huge example who taught our girls how to run fast. To look up to those All-Ohioans before paves the way. For Carina to do it and Elyana to follow, magic happens. It has been amazing to be a part of. It is more than the titles. It is the relationships you build that grows the family."
Special senior year caps off Elyana Weaver's career in style
While her freshman year was memorable, she will never forget her senior year. In cross country, she finished off earning her fourth varsity letter by earning her second All-Ohio honor, her first came as a sophomore, when she took 23rd in the Division II race with a time of 19:14.4. She guided her team to a district and regional championship and a third-place finish at state.
In track, she was again named OCC Athlete of the Year after winning the OCC title in the high jump and 800-meter run where she also claimed district championships in both events and a regional title in the 800 with a new school-record time of 2:14.83. She was also a leg in the district champion 4x800 relay team that advanced to state and took 11th with a time of 9:46.48. She finished third in the 800 with a time of 2:14.23 to take All-Ohio honors capping off an illustrious career.
"Elyana and I sat down this winter and set some high goals," Benson said. "I appreciate that she and her family let me do my job by taking a step back, but at the same time, coming together in special moments. The hardest thing to do is hold athletes accountable and Elyana wouldn't miss anything. I respect that so much."
Elyana refused to miss a workout or a single opportunity to get better, but she also refused to miss a chance to cheer on her teammates. She would be a regular in the Purple Haze student section at boys basketball games before getting up early for an indoor meet or a workout session on Saturday morning.
But her dedication to her teammates was on full display at this year's state track meet in Dayton. On Friday, she competed in the 4x800 relay finals which completed her day. She was due to run in the 800 finals on Saturday morning so Benson begged her to leave the stadium, go back to the hotel, get some food and rest up for the next day's race.
Instead, Elyana wanted to make sure she saw Megan Haring's race in the seated 400 and she wanted to cheer on the Lexington boys who were competing in the Division I meet a few hours later. She stayed the entire time in the heat and watched every second. She was there from 7:30 a.m. until the Division I 4x400 prelims more than 12 hours later.
"She didn't want to miss one thing," Benson said. "I wanted to protect her from the heat, but she refused to leave and miss one of her teammates' races. I knew, in my heart, I couldn't pull her from that stadium. We could watch them the next day in the finals, but she would not leave. She is that committed to her team."
Luckily, the long day didn't bother her too much as Elyana challenged her own school record and found herself on the podium at Dayton's Welcome Stadium, right where she belonged.
It was the perfect bookend to an incredible high school career. She went from a state champion in cross country her freshman year to the best state meet finish as a senior. It was the perfect way to end it.
"Every year has been so special in their own ways," Elyana said. "We went from a state championship as a freshman to a team with some of the best chemistry my sophomore year and we finished eighth. We took third the last two years, but those are experiences I wouldn't trade for anything. I never got to where I wanted to be individually, but looking back, there have never been any regrets. I never wanted to be the fast girls that went out by herself and were never with the team. I wanted to be there for my team."
It echoes exactly how Benson saw Elyana over the last four years. Her freshman year, she had three front runners who were very fast, but she wanted to run with them to stay together as a team. When it was her turn to be one of those front runners, she didn't want to leave her teammates behind no matter if it may have hindered her own personal glory.
"That is how much the team meant to her," Benson said. "She would never let them think of her in any way other than she is all about the team."
It is how Elyana has approached everything in her life from academics to athletics. It is all about her team, family, coaches and Lexington.
She is Lexington, through and through.
jfurr@gannett.com
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Past Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Here is the top girl for each year since the Mansfield News Journal Scholar-Athlete program's inception in 1987:
1987: Kelly Inkrott, Malabar; 1988: Kim Tyler, Northmor; 1989: Donna Lash, Ashland; 1990: Chris Olex, St. Peter's; 1991: Allison Quinn, Mount Gilead; 1992: Molly Senokozlieff, Clear Fork; 1993: Allisson Butler, Northmor; 1994: Allisson Butler, Northmor; 1995: Jaime Chenevey, Hillsdale; 1996: Janae Davis, Crestview; 1997: Shiva Davis, Crestview; 1998: Alyson Workman, Loudonville; 1999: Megan Pease, Madison; 2000: Cassie Palmer, South Central; 2001: Abby Coon, Plymouth; 2002: Stephanie Berkaw, Hillsdale; 2003: Tiffany Gribble, Galion; 2004: Sarah Henize, Bucyrus; 2005: Gretchen Polinski, St. Peter's; 2006: Whitney Dropsey, Hillsdale; 2007: Lindsey Pifher, Colonel Crawford; 2008: Kate Stimpert, Crestview; 2009: Hannah Fulk, Hillsdale; 2010: Rachel Dannemiller, Shelby; 2011: Kelsey Dropsey, Hillsdale; 2012: Martha Stabb, Clear Fork; 2013: Devon Murray, Shelby; 2014: Macey Sheerer, Bucyrus; 2015: Ellie Richmond, Wynford; 2016: Chloe Grove, Colonel Crawford; 2017: Kennadie Goth, Shelby; 2018: Claire Korbas, Shelby; 2019: Makenna Heimlich, Shelby; 2020: Kerrigan Myers, Galion; 2021: Taylor Huff, Madison; 2022: Claudia Pifher and Emily Siesel, Buckeye Central; 2023: Demi Hipp, Shelby; 2024: Elyana Weaver, Lexington.
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