Annville-Cleona's Jeff Inman named L-L male scholar-athlete

LANCASTER >> He's been a state champion on the track, and a district champ on the wrestling mat and the cross country course.

If you're a fan of local high school sports you may already know that about Jeff Inman.

What you may not know about the Annville-Cleona senior is that he is also a big-time performer in the classroom.

Well, now you know. And so does the entire Lancaster-Lebanon League.

Inman's athletic and academic exploits netted him a most prestigious honor on Tuesday during a luncheon at the Eden Resort, the L-L's A. Landis Brackbill Scholar-Athlete Award, given annually to the league's top male and female senior competitors in the classroom and playing fields.

The female recipient this year was Ephrata's Kelly Liebl, a soccer, basketball and track and field standout.

Carrying a 4.36 grade-point average, and ranked eighth in A-C's Class of 2015, the low-key Inman was visibly humbled by the honor that his hard work allowed him to achieve.

"I've worked incredibly hard all my life, in the classroom, out on the mat, on the track, and doing cross country," Inman said. "I didn't really understand what this award was all about until I came here and was told how difficult it is for somebody to win this. Some schools didn't even have any representatives to come. It means a whole lot. I'm just extremely honored to be a part of this and to win it."

Inman's resume was an impressive one, for sure. He was a member of A-C track's state champion 4x800 relay as a sophomore, the District Three Class AA wrestling champion at 152 pounds this past season and the 138-pound titleholder as a junior, among many other highlights. That, combined with helping the Little Dutchmen to two district cross country titles as a freshman and sophomore helped make him the first male recipient of the award from A-C since its inception in 1988-89.

To be nominated for the Brackbill Award, student-athletes must maintain a grade-point average of 3.0 or better and compete in a minimum of 75 percent of two PIAA-sponsored sport seasons in a given school year.

"It's very exciting," said A-C athletic director Tommy Long. "Just because I know what the requirements are just to be nominated. But with the accomplishments he has and the kind of student he's been, I thought he had a good chance to win it. He's had a tremendous career, and it's exciting to see him rewarded for it."

"To be the first person ever to win this from Annville, it's a huge honor," Inman said. "I think it's awesome."

Inman's accomplishments, as a senior in particular, are made even more impressive when one considers the amount of adversity he had to endure.

A flu-like illness hindered him in the early part of the cross country season and a somewhat puzzling bout with headaches that bother him to this day cost him about a month of the wrestling season.

So when Inman wrote about the importance of determination and diligence in his essay to the Brackbill selection committee, he was writing from experience.

"Missing all those matches in the middle of the season, (there was a doubt) whether he was gonna come back for postseason," Long said of Inman's wrestling season challenges. "And then to not only come back, but to win the district again and advance to states after missing all that time, is a credit to his work ethic and being prepared."

Inman plans to attend Virginia Tech to major in biology and has an eye on pursuing a career as an orthodontist.

His athletic future, particularly in wrestling, is in doubt because of the persistent headaches. But given his renowned work ethic success at whatever he takes on in college seems likely.

"It's all about the amount of hard work you put into it," Inman said of the key to successfully balancing athletics and academics. "You could study 15 minutes for a (calculus) test and fail it, but if you study for a few hours every night and put that work in you're gonna do really well.

"Same thing with sports. In the offseason, if you go to like one practice a week you're not gonna do much. If you go to a few more practices every week, you'll get better."

Joining Inman at Tuesday's luncheon as a Brackbill female finalist was Lebanon's Alicia Haitos, a basketball and volleyball standout.

Male nominees from Lebanon County were Cedar Crest's Soren Frost, A-C's Matt Darok, and Northern Lebanon's Tyler McFeaters. Other female nominees were Cedar Crest's Rachel Smith, Elco's Abby Dundore and Andria Harpold, Lebanon's Erin Winters and Lebanon Catholic's Hayley Witmer.