GRANITE CITY– Senior three-sport student-athlete Peyton Hatfield was named the 2022-23 Granite City High School Scholar-Athlete of the Year and is also now recognized as a Stillwater Senior Living Granite City Female Of The Month.
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"I am very grateful to be recognized," she said to her wide variety of recognitions at the end of her senior year. "I have worked very hard since day one of my freshman year.
"I'm grateful to have had my older sister Riley Hatfield to look up to and help me out during my high school years. She would tell me the 'to do's and not to do's' in order to "survive and thrive in high school. I listened, and now I have survived and thrived in high school."
Peyton Hatfield is a three-sport standout in tennis, swimming and soccer at GCHS, and is headed on a soccer scholarship to Lindenwood University in the fall and will major in elementary education. She is the daughter of Mike and Susan Hatfield.
"Peyton Hatfield is a shining star at GCHS. She is our student body President, she will graduate Summa Cum Laude, and she is a stellar athlete," said GCHS Principal Daren DePew. "Peyton is a tremendous representative of the quality people we work to produce in our community. We are all very proud of the young lady Peyton has become and we know her future is bright. Granite City will forever recognize Peyton as one of our own!"
Hatfield was recognized at Busch Stadium on May 16 as part of the 57th Annual St. Louis Post-Dispatch Scholar-Athlete Team. In addition, she was featured in the special section of the newspaper and online at STLhighschoolsports.com on May 16.
In a final GCHS Summa Cum Laude speech, Hatfield said she hopes she may possibly be a teacher one day after college. She says she is very excited about attending Lindenwood University on an athletic and academic scholarship.
"Saying that getting to where we are now was not a challenge would be the understatement of the year because of the COVID Pandemic," she said. "We missed much of our freshman and sophomore years of activities because of the pandemic. This class had its first full year of classes in-house during the junior year. I am proud of this class for pulling together to be the best role models they could be for the underclassmen."
"I have had so much success in high school on and off the field due to my amazing support system. Whether it was crying to my dad, or studying with my mom for a big test, they always had my back," Hatfield added.
"My mom, Susan Hatfield, is exactly the kind of person everyone needs in their life. Yes, she would make me work so hard that I wanted to give up, but because of her, I would keep at it until I got it right.
On the field, I've had many amazing coaches who have contributed so much to my success story. Thank you, Linda Ames, my tennis coach for believing in me when trying a new sport for the first time. Thank you Kenny Prazma for coaching me in my all-time favorite sport soccer. Most importantly, thank you to my teammates for pushing me to be my best as a player. It's been an honor.
To be considered a Scholar Athlete, students must be in the top 25 percent of their senior class academically and must play at least one varsity sport.
Athletic Honors: Two-time Girls Soccer Team Captain ... 2022 Soccer MVP: Defense ... 2023 Most Valuable Player: Tennis ... 2020 Most Improved Player: Tennis ... 2022 IHSA Sectional 400 Freestyle Relay Sixth Place ... 2022 All Sectional Team: Soccer.
Academic Honors/Clubs: Student Council President ... Member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, National Honor Society, Science Club, Student Council and Varsity Club ... Rotary Student of the Month ... Homecoming Court ... FCA and Alpha Peer Leader ... May Court ... Elks Student of the Month ... Highest GPA award for soccer- 2022 ... 2022 WSIU Top Teen ... Illinois State Scholar.Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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