NEWMAN AND SHARPE SELECTED AS SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
May 22, 2026
Written by Brad Peters
RIVERSIDE: Brady Newman and Addisyn Sharpe are close friends, both competed in water polo and swim and both excelled in the classroom throughout their four years at King High. It is highly fitting then, that they have both been named the Martin Luther King High 2025-2026 Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
So much of their athletic and academic stories parallel each other. Beyond the pool, they both earned GPAs in excess of 4.4. Their course load was heavy with Advanced Placement (AP) courses (10 for Addisyn and 11 for Brady) and both are bound for Auburn University in Alabama. Addisyn’s goal is to work in law while Brady is aiming at the medical field.
Of course, they have not risen to this point on their own. Addisyn credits her sister as a great influence in her life. “She has motivated me to be a better swimmer and person. Without her I would not have even gotten into swimming, and wouldn’t have been able to push myself to the level I am at today. She is kind, compassionate and caring and pushed me to be more like her daily,” she said. Brady was quick to point to his parents as his fuel. “They inspired the initiative in me to work hard in school and try my hardest in order to make a good life for myself,” he recalled.
Teacher Kris Jennings had Addisyn in class and had nothing but high praise, describing her as “impressive.” What stood out the most was Addisyn’s maturity as a student. “She does all the right things,” the veteran teacher said. “She is attentive, she asks questions, she participates in class discussions, she is always aiming to improve. She has the humility to work hard, despite the fact that she is incredibly bright. Students like her are why this job gives me hope for the future and why teaching is the best job on the planet.”
Brady mimics those qualities. Another veteran of the classroom, Lorrie Cobain commented that Brady was a “fully engaged student.” Regardless of what was on the academic menu for the day, he “was completely engaged in whatever we were learning. He worked diligently to figure things out– he worked hard to decode the illusive “sophistication point” on the AP Lang rubric. When working with others, he was friendly and collaborative.”
The journey wasn’t easy for either. The work load of taking multiple AP classes and competing in sports is not light. “I had to plan ahead and manage my time really well,” said Addisyn. For Brady that time management came down to what he called “dividing his time” in order to ensure excellence was the outcome.
Goal setting served as a North Star to both, a fixed point that kept them heading in the right direction and they revealed how that worked in the day-to-day: “Make a plan, do your best to keep yourself from procrastinating and get it done!” Addisyn said with enthusiasm. Good advice.
“Don’t take yourself too seriously,” said Brady with a touch of irony as one who worked with intentionality throughout high school. But then he added, “but do focus on your goals and accept the fact that the right choice to make is probably the hard one.”
Sage advice except for one thing: The decision by the Athletic Department to select Brady and Addisyn as this year’s Scholar-Athletes wasn’t hard, but it was definitely the right one.
