Brianne Griffith Named Garden City’s 38th Scholar Athlete

Garden City High School senior Brianne Griffith is the school district's 38th recipient of the News 12 Scholar Athlete distinction.

Diane Chapman, multi-year Nassau County Coach of the Year in field hockey and lacrosse and this year's Pineapple Ball Community Achievement Award winner, nominated Griffith for the honor.

Brianne Griffith recently taped her television interview with Garden City High School principal Nanine McLaughlin, district athletic director Nancy Kalafus and Kerin Boghosian, assistant varsity lacrosse coach and a leave replacement physical education teacher at the high school. The segment featuring Brianne aired on Sept. 24 and 25.

“News 12 chooses 30 winners in 30 weeks,” Kalafus said. “All senior athletes on Long Island are eligible." To win, Kalafus said, a student athlete must be at least a two-sport athlete, have above a 90 percent GPA unweighted average (Brianne’s is 95.7), have achieved 1950 or above on the SATs or above a 30 on the ACTs (Brianne scored a 34). They also must have demonstrated leadership qualities and have participated in community service.

A member of the 2011 and 2012 state championship lacrosse team and the Long Island 2011 and 2012 championship field hockey team, Brianne served as the Girls Athletic Association (GAA) grade representative in 2011, 2012 and 2013, is an Advanced Placement (AP) Scholar with Honors, a member of the National Honor Society, a member of the National Spanish Honor Society, a recipient of the 2013 American Legion Auxiliary Award and was a 2013 Girls State (American Legion Auxiliary program) candidate, according to a district press release.

“Brianne Griffith is an outstanding student athlete,” Coach Chapman said. “She puts academics before athletics and excels both in the classroom and on the field. Brianne works hard every day at practice and in games, and this makes her and her teammates better. Garden City field hockey and lacrosse have been very successful because of the mindset of Brianne Griffith and the exceptional young lady that she is.”

Griffith is applying to Harvard, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Dartmouth, Yale and Vanderbilt.