BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Keystone Heights High School senior student-athlete Caleb Moncrief was one of 24 students (12 male, 12 female) selected for the 28th annual Florida Dairy Farmers Academic All-State Team.
To be eligible, a graduating senior had to have a minimum unweighted grade-point average of 3.5 and earned a minimum of two letters in varsity sports his or her junior and senior years.
Each participant was evaluated on athletic participation, academic record, extracurricular activities, community service and an essay he or she had to write upon being nominated.
Florida Dairy Farmers received 51 nominations for male student-athletes.
“Whenever I wrote the initial paragraph of the essay, I didn’t really know if I was going to get it,” Moncrief said. “When they told me, it was really cool. I was so happy.”
At the time of his nomination, Moncrief had a 4.0 GPA, which put him at the top of his 174-member senior class. Over the past two years, he has varsity letters in football, basketball, weightlifting and track and field. He’s been student-government president for four years and is a member of such organizations as National Honor Society, Key Club and Future Business Leaders of America. Moncrief also has more than 500 hours of community service.
Moncrief, who’s participated in dual enrollment through Santa Fe College, has expressed his desire to major in biomedical engineering before going to medical school. His plan has been to go to the University of Florida, but three weeks ago, Moncrief was accepted into Harvard. According to Best Colleges, Harvard is the third-hardest college to get into with an acceptance rate of 4.0 percent.
“It was crazy,” Moncrief said. “I did not expect to get in there.”
He won’t be able to take the official visit to Harvard as it takes place the day after the Florida High School Athletic Association finals in weightlifting. Moncrief and his KHHS teammates are looking to win a second straight state championship on Saturday, April 23.
“I might try to get a visit up there sometime (later) just to go see the town and see the college,” Moncrief said, adding, “I have a tough decision to make.”
Some of Moncrief’s athletic highlights the past two years have included winning district and regional titles in weightlifting in 2021 as well as a third-place finish at state that same year.
Moncrief, who competes in the 238-pound class, doubled his number of championships this year as he won district and regional championships in weightlifting’s traditional event (bench press and clean and jerk) as well as the snatch, which the state added as an event this year.
In track and field in 2021, he won the district championship in the discus and placed third at the regional finals. This year’s district finals were held Wednesday, April 20, after deadline.
As a tight end/lineman on the football team, he helped KHHS go 10-2 this year, which included the program’s first-ever playoff win.
The members of the Florida Dairy Farmers Academic All-State Team will be honored at a June 6 banquet. Each member will receive a $1,700 scholarship and a commemorative medallion.
One male and one female will chosen as the Ronald N. Davis Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Each will receive a trophy as well as an additional $4,600 in scholarship funds.
