BELLWOOD-ANTIS’ HOLLEN, LUENSMANN PRESENTED HALL OF FAME SCHOLARSHIPS
A pair of outstanding student-athletes from Bellwood-Antis High School are the 2015 recipients of the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame scholarship awards.
Ana Hollen and Chad Luensmann received their awards — a plaque and a check for $2,000 from Hall of Fame partner Reliance Bank — during a luncheon on May 14 at the Blair County Convention Center.
Both excelled in the classroom and in their respective sports.
Ana won nine letters, including four in basketball, three in tennis and two in track & field.
She led the Lady Blue Devils to the District 6 Class AA title as a junior and a berth in the PIAA Class A western semifinals as a senior, when she was named the Altoona Mirror’s 2015 player of the year. She was also a two-time all-state selection. Ana won the 2013 District 6 tennis doubles championship and was the 2014 Class AA singles runnerup. Academically, she ranked 14th in Bellwood’s senior class of 108 and was on the high honor roll. Ana has a grade-point average of 101.07 to go with 1680 on her SATs. She earned a scholarship to play basketball at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. She’s a member of the National Honor Society, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Key Club and is the B-A senior class treasurer.
As a community servant, she is a member of the B-A Blue Angels and volunteered at several non-profits including St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry, Project Our Town, Salvation Army, Bellwood’s Freshman Orientation and the FCA Cereal Drive.
Ana is the daughter of Richard and Hsiu-Ping Hollen.
Chad is a baseball standout who is considered one of the top prospects in central Pennsylvania. As a pitcher-shortstop, he is a three-year letterman, three-time Inter-County Conference all-star, was an all-state selection as a junior and is the Prep Baseball Report’s top-ranked prospect in District 6. Chad is already committed to play baseball next year at the University of Nebraska, and he’s a candidate to be selected in the upcoming Major League Baseball draft. He ranks third in B-A’s graduating class of 108 and is a distinguished honor student. His grade-point average is 105.29 and his SAT scores totaled 2060.
Chad is a member of the National Honor Society, Leo Club, Spanish Club and a member of the B-A yearbook staff. He is a volunteer T-ball and Little League coach and has contributed his time to the Red Cross, St. Vincent DePaul, I-99 Cleanup, Relay for Life, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and the Blair County Miracle League. Chad is the son of Kevin and Elaine Luensmann.
“Blair County has had a history of terrific student-athletes, and we’re pleased to be able to continue to recognize them,” Hall of Fame President Neil Rudel said. “The Scholarship Committee had difficult choices.” The duo brought Bellwood’s total number of scholarship recipients to 12, second only to Hollidaysburg Area (15). Denny Doll of Reliance Bank will handle Thursday’s presentations.
In its 28 years of awarding scholarships, the Hall of Fame has now helped facilitate $96,000 to deserving student-athletes with all eight Blair County schools having been represented. “The Hall of Fame appreciates Reliance Bank’s continued support,” Rudel said. “Tim Sissler has been a longstanding board member and champion of the Hall of Fame, and he’s passed the torch to Denny Doll, who has been equally supportive.”
