BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Recent Keystone Heights High School graduate Caleb Moncrief was announced as the Ronald N. Davis Male Scholar of the Athlete of the Year by the Florida High School Athletic Association, which presented the members of the Florida Dairy Farmers Academic All-State Team on June 6.
Moncrief, the son of Helen Moncrief, graduated as valedictorian with a 4.0 grade-point average. He served as student-government president his freshman through senior years, was a member of National Honor Society, Key Club and Future Business Leaders of America, and compiled more than 500 community service hours.
Hannah Squier of Hobe Sound’s Pine School was named the Female Scholar Athlete of the Year.
“The hardworking men and women of Florida’s dairy industry are honored to recognize the significant accomplishments of Caleb and Hannah,” Florida Dairy Farmers CEO Michele Cooper said. “They’ve demonstrated a work ethic and drive that is second to none, and we’re proud to help them take the next step toward their amazing futures.”
Moncrief was one of 24 student-athletes named to the Academic All-State Team. Each member received a $1,700 scholarship and a commemorative medallion.
As a Scholar Athlete of the Year, Moncrief received an additional $4,600 in scholarship monies as well as a trophy.
To be eligible for selection to the Academic All-State Team, a student-athlete must be a graduating senior, have a cumulative unweighted GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and have earned a varsity letter in at least two different sports during each of his or her junior and senior years. Members were selected based on academic record, athletic participation, non-athletic activities, community service and an essay.
In a Telegraph-Times-Monitor story that was published April 21, 2022, Moncrief said, “Whenever I wrote the initial paragraph of the essay, I didn’t really know if I was going to get it. When they told me, it was really cool. I was so happy.”
Moncrief, who was named to the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program during his senior year as well, was one of 51 male nominees for the Academic All-State Team.
The recent graduate, who took dual-enrollment courses through Santa Fe College, was accepted into Harvard University, though his plans are to attend the University of Florida and eventually attend its College of Medicine.
It was quite a senior year athletically for Moncrief as well. He was a tight end/lineman on the football team, which had its best season in school history. The Indians went 10-2 and won the program’s first-ever playoff game.
Moncrief was a member of the weightlifting team that won its second straight state championship in the traditional event (bench press and clean and jerk) as well as Class 1A’s inaugural snatch championship. He was the runner-up in the 238-pound class in the traditional event and placed third in the 238-pound class snatch event.
Prior to state, Moncrief won the traditional and snatch championships in his weight class at both the district and regional levels.
Moncrief also participated in track and field, winning district championships in both the discus and the shot put. He automatically qualified for the state finals in the discus by winning the event at the regional level, while also earning an at-large state berth in the shot put with a fifth-place finish at regionals.
At state, Moncrief earned a medal in the discus with a seventh-place finish. He finished 12th in the shot put.
