By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

St. Charles Catholic’s Reyna Lubin found herself in rare company this past Monday.

The Comets’ soccer star was recognized as one of 20 finalists in Louisiana to become the state’s representative in the selection of the Wendy’s High School Heisman award, which will be awarded to one male and one female from 12 national finalists.

10 boys and 10 girls were selected among seniors from across the state and attended a banquet Monday in New Orleans. WDSU’s Roop Raj hosted the event as the Master of Ceremonies.

At the event, Byrd’s Adam Carlisle and H.L. Bourgeois’ Brianne Bergeron were chosen from the group as national finalists.

Two athletes per school can be selected — one male, one female — and the state finalists were selected from that pool of representatives.

The award seeks to honor those that show “excellence in academics, athletics, and community/school leadership.”

“I’m really excited to have been chosen,” said Lubin. “The banquet was awesome. I met a lot of great, intelligent people that give back to their communities. They had a lot of really great ideas.”

Lubin said that she was familiar with the award already, and that she could hardly contain herself after her selection as finalist.

“I was so excited. I jumped for joy,” Lubin said. “I know it’s a really big achievement. I’ve seen it talked about on ESPN, and I remember thinking that it would be awesome if that could be me. It’s just a great honor to be recognized.”

Her selection was based on a series of essays, her academics — in terms of both grade point average and ACT score — her service in the community and her athletic accomplishments.

Lubin said that the honor was magnified by the fact that the award wasn’t just for athletic achievements.

“Helping the community is very important to me. It’s great to know that they’d recognize me for not only athletics, but for working hard in the classroom and giving my best in all aspects.”