'A Gentleman First': Highland Park Star Student Athlete Heads To State

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — We all know student athletes who also bring their A-game to other parts of their lives.

Here at Patch, we've launched an initiative to help recognize these heroes making a difference in their communities. We’re working to let all your neighbors know the individual stories behind the leaderboard.

This submission comes from Karen Wehner, of Highland Park. She nominated her son Nate, who last weekend earned 12th place at the IHSA Class 3A cross country sectional, qualifying for Saturday's state finals in Peoria.

Star student athlete’s name
Nate

Star student athlete’s hometown
Highland Park, Illinois

What sport does the star student athlete play?
Cross Country/Track

Why do you believe the star student athlete should be recognized?
Nate is currently a junior in high school, hoping to run D1 in college. He has a website he uses for recruiting and has broken numerous records at Highland Park High School, hopefully on is way to running the fastest mile ever run by an HPHS student (a record set in the 1960's). There are numerous write-ups about his running at hprunning.com, and he also won CSL Athlete of the Week from the CSL Varsity Newsletter.

He's good at many sports and only a couple months ago pared it down to running. He also played soccer for 13 years, hockey for 7 and basketball for 4. In 8th grade he led his middle school soccer and basketball teams to conference championships.

But the best part about Nate is that he is a gentleman first, a sportsman second. He has not played on a team that he hasn't captained. His teammates view him as both a role model, a leader and a friend. I have seen him gather teams together — all on his own accord — after a tough loss or a great win and give an impromptu talk to his teammates that has only made them stronger.

At his middle school graduation (from Lake Forest Country Day School), he won the highest athletic award, the highest scholarship award, and the award the teachers selected for best overall student in the class of 2020. He currently maintains a perfect 4.0 GPA (unweighted; weighted he has a 4.6) at HPHS with a heavy load of honors and AP classes. He is the social media chair of the Choral Board and on the exec board for Math Team. He is also a member of HP Believers, a student-run organization that coaches athletes for the Special Olympics.

Nate is also the best friend and brother I know. And ironically, the stories that make me think of him for this article are ones he would not want published: how he helped a friend with cancer or a brother making a difficult decision. How he bakes birthday cakes for his friends, gives the most thoughtful gifts and is so close with so many of his friends' families. He is respectful, hard-working, talented, kind and fun. And we are so lucky to have him in our family.

What's one thing you want everyone to know about the star student athlete?

Every time he steps up to a start line, he runs with gratitude for the coaches and teammates that train with him, love for the friends and family that support him and a competitive spirit that means he will take the day he is given and make it the absolute best that he can.

Keep up the great work, Nate!

This content is brought to our community in partnership with T-Mobile.

Know an outstanding student athlete? Nominate them as a Patch Star Student Athlete.