Photo Credit: Maddie Norwood[/caption]Senior football player Garrett Cloer received the WRAL Extra Effort Award on Tuesday, November 25. The award was presented to him by Football Friday host Tom Suiter at OHS, and Mark Holt, also a senior, nominated Cloer for the award. The segment featuring Cloer’s win aired on November 26 at approximately 6:25 pm on WRAL. Cloer plans to play football for Cornell University in the fall.
Cloer, the number 12 quarterback for the varsity football team, was surprised and excited to win the award because it was “not something I saw coming,” he said. He learned that he had won on Monday when Assistant Principal Will Okun called him out of class to tell him. “He called me out of class, and I didn’t know what about, so I was kind of searching for what it might be about, but it turned out to be something good, which I was happy with,” he stated.
Cloer is ready to play for Cornell. He would like to “start as soon as possible and make an impact on the team.” He first played football when he was 10 as part of an Orange County recreational team. He continued to play in middle school and high school. One of the joys of football is “how close it brings our friendships,” he said. He also loves the intensity of the sport and how difficult it is.
It is unusual for a team member to nominate an athlete. Usually, coaches or teachers nominate students. Suiter said that it is “very seldom” this occurs and it “shows class.”
Holt met Cloer in 4th grade when they joined the same baseball team. After playing sports with Cloer for so long, he thought that Cloer should win the award in his senior year. Like Cloer, he didn’t know who had been chosen for the award until Monday. He is “happy [that Cloer won] cause he deserved it.”
Students are nominated using a form on the WRAL.com website. Suiter estimated that he received 150 nominations last year and chose 35 students. The award is given out weekly. Previous students from OHS that have received the award include Madison Chandler, Patrick Pettiford, and Jamie Lea.
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