St. Anthony's Beesley Named to IHSA All-Academic Team

Effingham St. Anthony's Alex Beesley was named to the Illinois High School Association All-State Academic Team.

Following is a biography on Beesley:

Effingham St. Anthony's Alex Beesley is clearly someone special.

President of student council, president of the Science Club, vice president of his class, starting forward on the basketball team that beat Okawville in overtime to win the 1A state championship… That's all Alex.

Even though he was only a junior and not his team's star, he was the leading scorer in that championship game. St. Anthony guidance counselor Craig Carr says, "That game was a great example of what Alex is capable of." He adds, "When the moment arrived that Alex was needed most, he was prepared."

"Entering the state semifinals, everyone had written us off. We were the lowest ranked, youngest, and least athletic team left in the tournament," Alex writes. "Despite what all the pundits were saying, we knew we had something special." They relied on what they'd learned over the season—that unselfish teamwork can succeed where individuals cannot—and they went into their games fearless, ready to work together to play to their strengths.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, they'd won it all. "We beat a team that was ranked higher than us all year in a thrilling overtime game to become the first state basketball champions in school history," he says. And they did it by relying on commitment, accountability, character and integrity. "I will never forget the lessons this journey taught me."

Along his high school journey, Alex has earned a 3.99 GPA on a 4.0 scale to rank No. 2 in his class. He's played four years of basketball and soccer, with two years of track & field and one of Scholastic Bowl. That goes along with four years as a class officer and four years of student council, Science Club, History Club, Catholic Athletes for Christ and TAG Club, three years of Spanish Club and two years of WYSE. He is a two-year member of the National Honor Society and an Illinois State Scholar, and he was the first student from St. Anthony to win the National Trail conference scholarship.

As Carr concludes, "Alex is just an outstanding example of someone who has taken his abilities and worked extremely hard to make the most of them, making positive connections with people along the way."

Alex Beesley represents IHSA Board of Directors Division No. 5 and his principal is Greg Fearday.