Lady Knights honored for high GPA’s

East Valley earned a first-ever berth in the girls state Class 3A basketball tournament earlier this month.

The Lady Knights on-court prowess got them to the tournament, but when it comes to academic excellence, the team has been stellar for quite a while.

East Valley earned the Con Agra Lamb-Weston Regional Academic Award with a team grade-point average of 3.73 and was second only to Sedro Woolley in the state and were .001 behind the Cubs for the state award.

“I had eight girls with a perfect 4.0 g.p.a.,” East Valley coach Freddie Rehkow said. “The thing about the state award is that Sedro Woolley only had nine girls on their team and we have 12.”

Turning in a 4.0 were: Eleaya Schuerch, Ashley Grater, Kylee Williamson, Kristie Burger, Kelsi Jacobson, Kathy Tate, Morgan Manchester and Tiffany Bittner.

In Rehkow’s five years as the head coach at East Valley, the Knights’ lowest Team g.p.a. has been 3.69

“I would definitely like for all the girls to be recognized for their efforts because it is truly them and their parents who have helped them achieve this award,” he said. “I am really proud of them and I’m glad to see that they adhere to my academics first, athletics second policy. We wouldn’t have achieved this award without their hard work, time, and dedication to academics.”