Hastings High School is proud to announce that Blake Beissel and Skylar Little Soldier are the recipients of the 2024 Athena and Apollo awards.
These annual awards are given to the outstanding athletes, one male (Apollo) and one female (Athena), in the senior class. Consideration is given based on excellence and accomplishments in both individual and team sports, throughout the duration of the student-athletes career. Consideration is given to both one-sport and multi-sport athletes. The award is an athletic award, with other accomplishments like leadership, character, and GPA being secondary. Blake and Skylar were selected by a vote of all HHS head coaches.
Little Soldier has earned five varsity letters in wrestling and two varsity letters in cross country. She earned one All Conference award in Cross Country. In wrestling, Skylar is 2x All Conference, 2x individual Section Champion and 2x individual State Champion. Skylar maintains a 3.78 GPA, has earned four academic letters, and is involved in the HHS Athlete Leadership Council. She plans to attend Grand Valley State University (MI) where she will study pre-pharmacy and compete on their wrestling team.
Blake Beissel has earned four varsity letters as a participant in wrestling. He is a 2x captain, 3x All Conference, and 3x All State wrestler. He is a 3x individual Section Champion, and 2x individual State Champion. He was a member of the 2023 Hastings team state championship team and has twice been named to the all-tournament team. Additional wrestling accolades include; school records for most wins and pins in a season, 3x team MVP, 2x Bi-State Outstanding Wrestler, 2x Bi-State individual Champion, 101 career pins (2nd most in school history) and a 178-13 overall career record to date. Blake is involved in FCA, Link Crew, AVID and the HHS Athlete Leadership Council. He plans to attend the University of Minnesota and compete on their wrestling team.
The Athena Award winner is honored at the St. Paul Athena Banquet in April. The Apollo and Athena winners will both be honored at the Raiders Sports Awards recognition event at Hastings High School in May.
