LAFAYETTE — The Journal & Courier sports department is proud to present the 24th annual Student-Athlete of the Year awards.
The selections were based on a student-athlete's athletic and academic achievements, along with community activities. The winners were asked to write about what high school athletics meant to them. The male recipient for 2024 is Joe Widmer of Benton Central.
Widmer carried a 4.12 grade point average while excelling as a member of his Bison football and basketball programs.
He completed 202 of 353 passes for 2,351 yards, threw 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions as a senior and finished with 43 career touchdowns.
Widmer was named to the Small Schools All-Area team twice, All-Hoosier Conference and was the Bison Offensive Player of the Year three times.
He was FFA Chapter Treasurer, was a Financial Analyst Team national qualifier in NPA and was state runner-up in Diversified Crop Management for FFA.
Widmer served as vice president of BPA during his senior year, was a member of National Honors Society and was class representative during his sophomore, junior and senior year. Widmer will attend Iowa State and pursue a degree in Agribusiness.
It was an honor to not only win this award but to even be recognized was truly a blessing. High school sports have taught me so many life lessons that I will carry with me in my future that I can say I am very grateful for. I could not have done it without my teammates, coaches, friends, and family that have always helped me along the way and the whole Benton community that supported not just the sports I played, but all of the other sports as well that make high school sports so enjoyable.
My family has really been my biggest supporters throughout my high school career as they have never missed a game and always supported me fully after a bad game. My parents especially have helped me tremendously through my younger years getting me to and from workouts and practice that have helped me become the athlete I was in high school.
My role models in my life have always motivated me to work harder and never be satisfied. Always pushing me to go harder and to not make excuses. I’ve had to overcome a lot of adversity through both of my sports at Benton Central.
For football, we’ve always been known for having a struggling program and having that narrative was adversity as is. The group of seniors I have played along with for most of my life came together and wanted to overcome that stereotype at BC.
Though we never got to our expectations we could say that we have improved our program and were able to win more as our careers went on. In basketball, during my four years, we had lost two coaches in the middle of each season that put ourselves at a standstill. We had to overcome the differences that our season was going to look like and just keep working day by day.
Another piece of adversity not only I had to overcome but my teammates as well was setting our goal of winning sectional before we leave. We were never able to get it done but as close as we were each year put more motivation in not only my head but my teammates as well.
As small as a school that we are, to win both female and male student-athlete of the year is huge for our community.
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached atehanson@gannett.com, on Twitter at EthanAHanson and Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.
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