Two HHS seniors named WPIAL Scholar Athletes

Two Hampton High School seniors were named recipients of the 31st annual WPIAL James Collins Scholar Athlete Award in April. HTSD congratulates Kai Herchenroether and Will Retsch, who were among the 20 candidates selected from a pool of 142 nominees.

The WPIAL annually awards 20 scholarships of $1,000 to student-athletes. School administrators nominate two student-athletes, and scholarship committee members then sort through the nominations and pick 10 male and 10 female winners.

Kai was a three-year letterwinner in volleyball and helped lead Hampton to two section volleyball titles and WPIAL and PIAA runner-up finishes in 2021. She was named All-State and AAU Volleyball Academic All-American. She is a four-year honor roll and senior scholar, in addition to being a member of National Honors Society, MSA, Mandarin Club, WEA, and Student Council.

Kai plans on attending Carnegie Mellon University next fall to study engineering and play volleyball.

Will was a four-year letterwinner in swimming & diving and owns school records in the 200 Medley Relay, 200 Individual Medley, 100 Breaststroke, and 100 Butterfly. He has won five WPIAL individual titles between 2021 and 2022, and the 2022 PIAA championship in the 200 IM. He is a member of National Honors Society, Chinese Language/Culture Club, and Band, in addition to receiving AMS Scholastic All-America and AP Scholar with Honors.

Will plans on attending Gannon University next fall to study engineering and continue swimming.