On June 23rd Carey Williams presented the Chevy Male and Female Athlete award to Gianna Valforte and Earnest Brown IV on Good Morning Texas.

GIANNA VALFORTE

As a 4-year all-district second baseman for the Birdville softball team…  Gianna Valforte won a state championship her junior year, was a regional finalist as a senior, and ended up scoring a school-record 154 runs in her career.

Also over the past four years, Valforte was ranked at or near the top of her class before finishing fourth out of 476 seniors.

Gianna is a member of the National Honor Society, and she participated in UIL Academics at Birdville.  In the fall, she’ll be attending the University of Texas at Austin.

EARNEST BROWN IV

Denton Ryan defensive end Earnest Brown IV (the fourth) considered college offers from around the country.  A&M, Texas, and Oklahoma were high on his list.  He chose Northwestern University.

Brown’s decision to go to Northwestern didn’t surprise Ryan head coach Dave Henigan who remembers one particular practice in the Spring of Brown’s sophomore year when Earnest just wasn’t himself.

C’s weren’t the norm for Brown who earned academic all-state honorable mention this year as a senior.  He was also a first team all-state defensive end on a team that reached the 5A division one semifinals, and he played in the U.S. Army All-American game.

In addition to football, Earnest started on the Raiders basketball team.  And in track, he placed second in the shot put and third is discus at the 5A state meet.