LC-M's Scholar Athletes

On the courts of Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School, there was what seemed to be a friendly pickup game of tennis going on.

KFDM's Scholar Athletes of the Week, Phillip Richard and Emiley Walker, had nothing but good things to say about each other, but if you ask Richard, he'll tell you he's no match for Emiley on her court.

"He's a really nice guy, plays any sport you can think of, and he's really fast too. He's always been a great friend," said Walker.

"She's a nice girl. Everyone at school likes her. She has all kinds of friends and she's pretty much in charge of all student groups here," said Richard.

Richard's disadvantage exists because tennis is Emiley's best sport. She made fall regionals for four years straight, and this year, along with partner Corey Guilbeaux, just won the District 22-4A crown.

"We both won the district title Tuesday so that was a huge accomplishment," said Walker.

Phillip plays on the LC-M baseball team, which currently sits in second place in the district behind PN-G. The Bears will need some help from the Indians in order to win a district title, so he's trying to focus his teammates for a strong state title push.

"We always have a good shot of going to the playoffs, going deep. Winning district is great and all, but the playoffs are more important than district every year," said Richard.

Both students are members of the National Honor Society. Emily is also the student body president. She'll be an Aggie next year in College Station.

"I plan on majoring in biochemistry and then hopefully going to medical school. I want to become and anesthesiologist," she said.

Phillip is going to start college at Lamar. He loves sports so figures why not jump into physical therapy.

"A lot of the injuries have to do with sports and stuff, and I don't want to leave them because I've played them my whole life. If I don't get into physical therapy, I may go into coaching too," said Richard.

Emiley is an active member of First Baptist Church in Orange who has joined mission trips in Ecuador and Mexico.

She said, "Just going and seeing God move in another country between the language barriers and everything, it's just really neat to see."

Phillip spends a lot of his time competing with his twin brother Chad.

"Always in Little League, the coaches would pick him because he was bigger and he could hit better than me. Only one year, they picked me over him. It was kind of like a two for one deal. It kind of made me excited that year," he said.

Both students said their parents influenced their achievements in life, and both look forward to the school year ending.

Phillip added that if it all worked out, he wouldn't mind trying out for the Lamar University Football team in 2010.

KFDM would like to thank Angie Boynton and Coach Todd Moody for helping us find this week's Scholar-Athletes of the week.

By the way, if you are in and around the LC-M Principal's office this week, be sure to wish Angie a Happy Birthday!

Feel free to leave a message of congratulations to Emiley and Phillip in the comments section below!