Mike Ridaught
Caleb Moncrief does it all at Keystone Heights.
He is president of the National Honor Society, a part of the National Math and English Honor Society, and he excels in the classroom, carrying a 4.45 GPA. He is also very involved with the school as an officer.
Moncrief was also recognized as the Clay Electric Speech Contest Scholarship winner.
And by the way, he will participate in four sports during his senior year: football, basketball, track and field and weightlifting.
“My coaches are really good about making schedules flexible so that I can get to all the practices that I need to,” said Moncrief, who also played four sports as a junior. “After weightlifting, I would go throw and stuff, so I can fit everything into one day.”
Moncrief, who competes in the discus and shotput during track and field season, will play on both lines of scrimmage for the Indians’ football team this fall. He will also play in the post during basketball season.
“Caleb was a full-time dual enrollment student through Santa Fe College as a junior,” said Chuck Dickinson, Keystone Heights football coach and athletic director. “He was part of the state weightlifting championship team and will be a three-year starter on the football team this year.”
A team strength for this year’s football team might be the offensive line, which is anchored by Moncrief and seniors Luke Snider and Mason Dicks.
“All three of us have been playing for a while and we’ve got some younger kids who are pretty strong and know what they’re doing,” Moncrief said.
The Indians will lean on his leadership this fall too.
“Caleb is a very unselfish player when it comes to football because he plays whatever position we need help with and has never complained,” Dickinson said. “He is a very smart player on the field due to the fact that he sometimes plays four different positions.”
His favorite high school sports moments so far was “winning the state championship with my weightlifting team.”
This past spring Moncrief finished fourth individually in the 219-pound division to help lead the Indians to the Class 1A state title. He finished with a 600-pound total (295 bench, 305 clean).
Moncrief also won the Region 2 title and was a 1A-District 8 champion.
“The best thing that I can say about Caleb is that he is going to do the right thing even when no one is looking,” said weightlifting coach Lantz Lowery, who guided the Indians to the Class 1A state championship along with Dickinson this past spring.
Moncrief said his final year should be a lot of fun.
“I’m looking forward to finishing my high school career strong and enjoying my last season with my teammates,” he said.
With multiple sports comes lots of goals heading into his senior year.
For football, Moncrief said he would like to “have a winning season that takes us into the playoffs and hopefully beyond.”
He also wants to win another team weightlifting title and an individual state championship. And in track and field, he hopes to qualify for the state championship in both events.