BURLINGTON — Five local high school seniors were among 10 Vermont athletes honored by the Vermont State Athletic Directors Association at its 2017 Scholar-Athlete Award banquet at the Burlington Sheraton Hotel.
Mount Abraham Union High School track and field and soccer star Lydia Pitts was announced as the top female winner statewide of a National Interscholastic Athletic Administration Association Scholarship. 
Also honored for their athletic and academic proficiency at VSADA’s annual Leadership Conference were Middlebury’s Andi Boe and Keagan Dunbar and Otter Valley’s Gabriela Poalino and Payson Williams.
Boe is a standout in soccer, hockey and lacrosse; Dunbar in basketball and lacrosse; Poalino in soccer, basketball and softball; and Williams in football, basketball and baseball.
Pitts earned a $500 scholarship at the banquet and will move onto a sectional competition at which she can win a $1,500 award. If Pitts wins the sectional award she will be eligible for a $2,500 scholarships.
On Nov. 6 the other four multi-sport standouts walked away with $200 scholarships.
The five were among many applicants statewide who met the minimum requirements of attaining at least two of the following: a B+ grade average, a ranking in the top 25 percent of his or her class, an ACT score of 24, or a combined SAT score of 1,100 in math and reading.
Each must also have earned letters in two sports over two years, have completed an essay as part of an application, and have obtained an recommendation from a school AD.