ANDERSON — With equal parts of dedication to athletics, academics and citizenship, Elwood’s Thomas Abner became the 41st recipient of the Red Haven Award on Tuesday.

Abner collected 12 varsity letters combined in basketball, football and baseball and is ranked second academically in a class of 122 students. He is president of National Honor Society and has volunteered for Meals on Wheels and served as a page for state Rep. Terri Austin.

But he didn’t go into the event thinking he would be the selection.

“I was very nervous,” said Abner, the son of James and Susan Abner. “I thought I had a shot. But all of us (the eight nominees) have worked so hard.”

The work is so hard and the accomplishments so consuming and demanding that it is a yearly wonder how these student athletes fit everything into their schedules.

“Time management is a very important part of it,” said Abner. “I think that is a very important skill to learn, not just for now but for anything I do in the future. It’s a good value everyone could learn.”

“I’m awfully proud of him,” said Kyle Hobbs, the Elwood varsity basketball coach. “He’s just everything you’d want in a kid. He’s a great ambassador for our school. He’s a very task-oriented type kid.”

Abner will need every bit of those skills as he embarks upon a six-year journey into the pharmacy field at Butler University. “I’m definitely nervous about (Butler),” Abner admitted. “But it’s a challenge and I like challenges.”

Abner’s win lifts Elwood atop the standings of schools with nine Red Haven Awards, breaking the deadlock with Alexandria, which has eight.

“I thought we had a strong candidate,” said Elwood athletic director Marty Wells. “But once you read about the other candidates and you think ‘Oh, my gosh, they are all so strong.’ It’s a feather in our cap to have had this number of Red Haven winners.”

The award was presented by the Anderson Noon Exchange Club with corporate sponsorship by Saint John’s Health System and The Herald Bulletin. Abner will receive $500 scholarship awards from The Herald Bulletin and the Anderson Noon Exchange Club.

The guest speaker for the luncheon was Osborne Morgan, president of Star Financial Bank.

“These nominees have 61 varsity letters,” noted Morgan. “If these parents went to 12 to 15 events in each of these sports for four years, figuring a 40-hour work week, they would have spent about a year-and-a-half in bleachers or on benches.”

Morgan encouraged the student athletes as they look toward choices to be made right out of high school.

“Be absolutely fearless,” said Morgan. “Don’t be afraid to go down any path. You are so capable of doing so many wonderful things.” He spoke of the athletes having passion to excel, for athletics and for helping others. He said it is most important to pick what they will shift their passions to after sports and school and just as important to maintain that passion.