“Jessie is an outstanding leader who pulled the school together when we were having some real troubles,” said Wheelock, a chaplain at Dominican who has known Bazan for three years.

“Jessie does everything; she’s involved with so many activities within the school and outside the school and knowing the heart of Jessie I thought she’d be an excellent person to receive the award.

“She’s a real, solid Catholic young lady and that she believes in the church and what we stand for.

“What makes me feel she stands out from the rest is her joy. When everybody else is down she’s pulling people together. And, if she sees something that has to be done, she just does it and her warmth and friendliness towards new students, she’s just been a very positive influence at our school and in the community,” said Wheelock.

Randy Taylor from Sports Faith International said Bazan was an easy choice.    

“Jessie was a no brainer, because she has it all,” said Taylor.

“She’s smart, she’s a tremendous athlete, she cares about her community and she’s done so much for people above and beyond what being an athlete is and what even being a catholic is, she was an easy choice for Athlete of the Year.”

Taylor noted that although colleges and universities focus on academics, they also concentrate on character.

“College coaches are looking for athletes who have ability but they have to be well rounded and have good character,” he said.

“If they’re involved in the community, it just speaks highly of what kind of person the college is going to get and then academically they have to qualify and they have to do all the things that are right and the better they are academically the more options they have on what universities they can attend.”

During the awards ceremony emcee Brian Scanlan from Ave Maria University read a list of Bazan’s accomplishments. He noted her leadership award from Dominican coaches and her strong performance on the softball diamond.

“She finished first in Wisconsin with a 47.2% volleyball hitting average and over the last three seasons with the Knight’s she’s held the highest batting average on the softball team at .372 and .350,” said Scanlan.

Those stats drew a vocal “Wow” from a number of people in attendance.

“Academically, Jessica has been on the high honor roll every semester since her freshman year; she has a 3.9 grade point average and is ranked number four in her class.

“Jessica is very active in her school’s campus ministry program serving her parish as an assistant at children’s liturgy’s, preparing meals at St. Ben’s meal program in Milwaukee and working as a volunteer coach at youth basketball and volleyball summer camps.

“She also writes sports updates for her school paper and articles for Preps on the Net,” he said.

Bazan received the Athlete of the Year award, along with Meagan Gitchel from St. Francis High School in Il. and Steven Lester from Carmel Catholic High School in Il.

Milwaukee Pius XI sophomore Curtis Lewis was honored as the Catholic Knights - Player of the Year. 

Watch for a video highlight of the Sports Faith awards ceremony at Preps on the Net.com.