Standouts on and off field: 3 finalists for Indianapolis City Male Athletes of the Year

The Marion County Athletic Association will soon name its City and County Athletes of the Year, an award that dates to 1950 and grew to include girls’ achievements in 1979.

The awards are geared toward athletic achievement, but almost every winner over the years has exhibited impressive credentials in and out of their athletic, academic and personal areas. Generally, multi-sport athletes are given consideration over single-sport athletes, though in some cases a single-sport athlete has been so outstanding that he or she has been selected as the winner.

Here are the three finalists for City Male Athlete of the Year (last year’s winner was Cathedral football and basketball star Jaron Tibbs):

∎ Finalists for City Female Athlete of Year

Sam Feeney, Bishop Chatard

Feeney is a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and track and field with plans to play football in college at Ball State.

On the football field, Feeney was a two-time all-state and all-City selection who helped his team to Class 3A state championships as a junior and senior. He made 84 tackles as a senior, including 17 for a loss, with 8 ½ sacks, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, two blocked kicks and two defensive touchdowns. Feeney was a team captain who blocked seven combined blocked punts, field goals and PATs.

Feeney was a state qualifier in the 100-meter dash as a junior and helped his track team to City championships as a sophomore, junior and senior. He set the school record in the 100 (10.67 seconds). Feeney plans to study business at Ball State with the goal of becoming an entrepreneur.

Luke Himes, Heritage Christian

Himes is one of the most decorated track and field athletes in state history with his senior season still not complete. Himes, who plans to study engineering at Notre Dame, was the state champion in the shot put as a junior, a six-time City champion (three times shot put and discus) and the school record holder in both the shot put and discus.

Himes’ shot put of 68-10 earlier this season ranks third in state history. He is the record holder for the shot put in City, conference and sectional meets, a USA Track and Field MVP, two-time New Balance National All-American, a first team Milesplit All-American, the NCSAA Track and Field athlete of the year and Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year nominee.

Himes is a regular volunteer at Castleview Baptist Church, serves on Heritage Christian’s SALT program (serving and leading together), tutors trombone and chemistry and performs various maintenance and service projects for Heritage Christian athletics. His goals are to complete bachelor's and Master's degrees in engineering, become a national champion in shot put and compete for USA track and field.

David Mendez, Scecina

Mendez accumulated 12 varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball at Scecina, earning all-City honors three times in baseball, one time in football and one honorable mention in basketball.

For his high school career to date, Mendez has eight home runs and 75 RBIs with a .434 batting average and 117 runs scored. In football, he passed for 3,235 yards and 34 touchdowns for his career and rushed for 1,072 yards. He averaged 11.0 points and 2.6 assists as a senior on the basketball team.

Mendez played on two sectional championship teams and one regional champion in football and one regional champion in basketball. He was a three-sport academic all-conference selection as a junior and senior. Mendez is planning to attend Wabash College to play football and baseball and study economics. He is a member of the National Honor Society, serves as a school ambassador and volunteers for the canned food drive.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Three finalists for Indianapolis City Male Athletes of the Year 2024