Two Lee County student-athletes heading to prestigious colleges in the fall were awarded top honors at the 40th Annual Rotary South Scholar Athlete Banquet.
The selection committee named Evangelical Christian School’s Nalah Smith and Fort Myers’ Kael Seneca the female and male Scholar Athletes of the Year, respectively, out of a pool of 42 nominees at Bell Tower DoubleTree on Tuesday night.
The event, which honors student-athletes for achievements in the classroom and athletics, awarded Smith and Seneca $5,000 scholarships while all other nominees received $500 Rotary Service Above Self awards.
“I was really scared,” Smith said. “My belly just dropped to the floor. I was very excited, very grateful.”
“It felt really amazing,” Seneca said. “Just kind of being shown the hard work does pay off, and I’m so incredibly grateful for the community, Rotary, all the sponsors who were willing to reward me with this, and I really appreciate it. It does mean a lot.”
Smith, the 2025-26 Southwest Florida Girls Basketball Player of the Year, averaged 16.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks a game to help lead the Sentinels to the Final Four.
“I’m most proud of learning how to grow to be the leader I was able to be my senior year,” she said.
Smith will continue her basketball career at Brown University.
“I’m most looking forward to learning how to be a mid-adult, a little bit adult-ish, and learning how to be under people that have already been in the college field of athletics,” she said.
Seneca is a state champion wrestler — he put together a 45-1 record this past season and took home the Class 2A title at 126 pounds.
“I’m just grateful for the opportunity, grateful for the people who have worked with me, my parents who have sacrificed so much for me, all my friends who have supported me, teammates who have pushed me,” he said.
He will attend the U.S. Naval Academy in the fall.
“It’s my passion to serve other people, and I feel like that’s what I was put on this earth to do, so going to the Academy will let me serve to, what I believe, is the best of my capability and contribute to something greater than myself,” Seneca said. “So I’m really looking forward to that opportunity to serve those around me.”
Seneca said the scholarship money will give him a “head start” for things his tuition won’t cover as well as his plans after serving.
“I do hope once I get out of the military to open up a nonprofit and help use the money I have to help other people, mainly first responders and veterans,” he said. “I really would like to work with them and help.”
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Rotary Club names Fort Myers’ Kael Seneca and ECS’s Nalah Smith top scholar athletes
Reporting by Dustin B Levy, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
