Falconer's Samantha Gilbert is the 2020 Frank Hyde Memorial Scholarship winner. P-J file photo

Not quite six years ago, Mike LeBaron, the Falconer/Cassadaga Valley girls track & field coach, found an email in his inbox.

It was from Mike Wilbur, the boys coach at Allegany-Limestone.

“To paraphrase, he said that a special talent was coming my way,” LeBaron recalled recently. “Mr. Wilbur was sad — and so was the girls’ coach, Kathy Stamets — that this athlete was leaving Allegany-Limestone, but happy she was coming to an established track and field program.”

Samantha Gilbert, then just shy of 12 years old, was going to be headed west on I-86.

The Gators’ loss turned out to be the Golden Falcons’ gain.

“It has been a blessing to me,” LeBaron said.

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Samantha graduated from Falconer Central School last month as the valedictorian. Along the way, she was recognized as a Section VI scholar-athlete for six years, and as a member of the dean’s list at Jamestown Community College every semester she enrolled in college classes.

For good measure, Samantha was also the president of the National Honor Society, vice president of Students Against Destructive Decisions and secretary of the Student Council and a member of the school’s safety team; and was a volunteer at the H.C. Fenner Elementary School Field Day, the Flyers Gymnastics Comedy Classic, the JETS swim meet in Jamestown and the Chautauqua County Special Olympics.

Frank Hyde would have admired that dedication to academics and extracurricular activity. The longtime Post-Journal sports editor (1945-79) would have also been especially impressed that Samantha, who is an accomplished gymnast, was able to do all that while turning herself into what LeBaron called “one of the greatest athletes in Falconer/Cassadaga Valley track & field history.”

Not one for hyperbole, LeBaron’s assessment would appear to be spot on, making Samantha the choice as the newspaper’s Frank Hyde Memorial Scholarship recipient. The 36th annual award, valued at $1,000, has been presented annually since 1985. Student-athletes from The Post-Journal circulation area are eligible.

“Life is like doing a balance-beam routine in gymnastics,” Samantha wrote in her essay that accompanied her scholarship application. “You have to learn to balance multiple responsibilities and challenges. Sometimes you fail, but you have to get back up and finish the routine.”

COVID-19 prevented Samantha from capping off her high school career the way she would have liked, but her resume to that point speaks for itself.

Consider:

¯ At Flyers Gymnastics in Falconer, Samantha was a Level 10 gymnast and a state qualifier every year she competed, beginning at age 6. In 2018, she was a regional qualifier and ultimately won the state title in the vault, five years after claiming the state crown on the beam.

¯ During her 2019 track and field season, Samantha placed fifth in the long jump at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championships; was the Section VI champion in the long and triple jumps; and placed fourth in both the 100 and 200 meters; claimed the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association titles in the triple and long jumps, and in the 100 and 200; was selected the Most Valuable Female Athlete at the Foy-Abdo-Davies Super 8 Meet; and was the Outstanding Female Athlete at the Jamestown Track Classic for the second straight year.

“Samantha was a typical young talent in her first year as a seventh-grade athlete on the Falconer/Cassadaga Valley track and field team,” LeBaron said. “The difference was she was blessed with speed, she was a top-notch gymnast, and had a competitive edge. At the conclusion of the season, I had some advice: ‘Sprinters are a dime a dozen in track and field. It’s what is done with that speed that will set you apart from others.'”

Well, guess what?

LeBaron was right again.

Halfway through her freshman year, it all began to sink in for Samantha, and by the time her sophomore season rolled around in 2018, LeBaron said “the transformation from a seventh-grader who was ‘on the track team’ into a ‘track and field athlete’ was near complete.”

In that season, Samantha claimed Section VI patches in each of the four events she competed in, but she missed qualifying for the NYPHSAA Championships in the long jump by a half-inch.

“I believe (that) set the stage for the 2019 season,” LeBaron said.

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Nearly unbeatable during the regular season, Samantha capped her 2019 campaign by winning both the long and triple jumps at the Section VI Championships. Her long jump, measured at 17 feet, 11.75 inches, was the best mark by any athlete in CCAA girls track & field history. The next week, she finished fifth at the NYSPHSAA Championship in Middleton.

“I recall returning home with great anticipation of the 2020 season,” LeBaron said. “Samantha was in a position to put a giant exclamation point on her high school track and field career. It was easy to imagine what Samantha could achieve entering her senior season. The sky was the limit and we were thinking big.”

The coronavirus pandemic left her and her coach feeling “robbed,” LeBaron said.

But, he maintains, all is not lost.

“Samantha’s career is not over because she has signed a national letter of intent to compete on the track and field team at Slippery Rock University,” LeBaron said. “I believe Samantha is ready for the next level.”

Samantha plans to pursue a degree in exercise science and, upon graduation, she will enter Slippery Rock’s physical therapy program.

“My goal is to encourage people to take care of themselves, so they can have a healthy life,” she said. “Balancing a healthy mind and body has been one of the hardest parts of my life, but it is also the most important.”

LeBaron admits that seeing Samantha move on to the next chapter of her academic and athletic career will be difficult.

“There is part of me that wishes I was a coach at Slippery Rock,” he said. “It would be awesome to travel across the country, coaching one of the greatest athletes in Falconer/Cassadaga Valley track and field history, and in my career.”

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Past winners of the Hyde Memorial Scholarship are: 1985, Steve Penhollow, Cassadaga Valley; 1986, Rich Crane, Sherman; 1987, Nancy Dornsife, Randolph; 1988, Mary Mansfield, Pine Valley; 1989, Jackson Rohm, Southwestern; 1990, Pam Crowell, Pine Valley; 1991, Cory Emory, Sherman; 1992, Ken Davenport, Falconer; 1993, Jennifer Tate, Falconer; 1994, Justin Johnson, Jamestown; 1995, Andy McMaster, Jamestown; 1996, Patrick Swanson, Sherman; 1997, Adam Beckerink, Frewsburg; 1998, Matthew Baideme, Westfield; 1999, Leigh Baumgart, Falconer; 2000, Craig Swanson, Jamestown; 2001, Trevor Cable, Frewsburg; 2002, Kathy Baum, Ripley; 2003, Ashley Kulju, Maple Grove; 2004, Rob Prinzi, Jamestown; 2005, Matt Mazgaj, Southwestern; 2006, Natalie Thorpe, Southwestern; 2007, Michael McGinnis, Falconer; 2008, Nicole Frederickson, Jamestown; 2009, Jennifer Andrews, Randolph; 2010, Mallory Deuink, Clymer; 2011, Joey Campion, Jamestown; 2012, Shannon Murphy, Falconer; 2013, Zachary Eklum, Jamestown; 2014, Jordan Powers, Southwestern; 2015, Zack Panebianco, Jamestown; 2016, Matthew Marsh, Jamestown; 2017, Wyatt Perry, Southwestern; 2018, Giuseppe Hoose, Southwestern; and 2019, Allison Stockwell, Jamestown.