Amarachi Eseonu and Clarke Gottwald are The Times-Dispatch/Sports Backers Scholar-Athletes of the Year.

Eseonu, from Maggie Walker Governor’s School, and Gottwald, from St. Christopher’s were honored along with 18 others tonight at a banquet at The Jefferson Hotel.

Eseonu and Gottwald received $7,500 scholarships. The runners-up, Katie Blow of Mills Godwin and Chris Daly of Collegiate, received $4,000 scholarships. The other 16 finalists were each awarded $2,000 scholarships.

The Sports Backers also awarded $1,000 to the Williams Mullen teams of the year—the Midlothian girls cross country team and the St. Christopher’s wrestling team of which Gottwald was a member and the state champion at 171 pounds.

CJW Sports Medicine presented awards to comeback athletes of the year. Kirk Rohle of Hanover was the boys winners. Cayla Toups of Lee-Davis and Taylor Thornton of Patrick Henry were co-girls winners.

Eseonu was the Central Region field hockey player of the year last fall and was two-time Colonial District player of the year. She was selected to the all-state first team. Soccer was her spring sport.

As a freshman, Eseonu was the class president. She was the Student Council Association co-secretary this year. She is a member of the National Honor Society and math, science and Spanish honor societies.

She plans to major in biomedical engineering at Harvard.

Gottwald was a member of the Collegiate Saints’ wrestling teams that won the Virginia Independent Schools state title each of his high school years. He was state runner-up as a junior. He was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Prep League and state championships after winning at each level. He was 118-35 in his career.

Gottwald has started as a defensive lineman for the Saints football team for three years. He earned first-team all-Prep League and second-team all-VIS honors this year.

He has served as honor council secretary and a peer advisor to freshmen. He is an Eagle Scout. He competed in the Physics Olympics last fall and won.

Gottwald is headed to the University of North Carolina.

For the full list of area scholar-athletes, search keyword: scholar athletes.

Contact Arthur Utley at

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