WINNEMUCCA - Jace Billingsley, a 2012 Lowry High School graduate and NIAA Top 10 Student-Athlete of the Year award recipient, has been named the winner of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association's 2012 national student-athlete essay contest.
Billingsley was first named the Nevada state winner and then the
Section 7 (western states) winner leading up to the national honor.
This year's essay topic was "How High School Athletics has Impacted my Life."
One male and one female each receive a $2,000 scholarship and a medallion recognizing them as national winners in addition to attending the National Conference for Athletic Administrators in December to present their essay.
Billingsley is the son of Jim and Jeri Billingsley of Winnemucca. His hobbies and interests include hunting, fishing, various water sports and anything else involving sports in an outdoor and recreational environment.
Billingsley is one of the most successful and honored student-athletes in Silver State prep history. He was a classification/league-leading quarterback and running back in football, a record-book smashing wrestler in the middle weight classes, and a state
leading hitter and fielding shortstop on the baseball team.
He posted single season and career-best statistics in three varsity sports, littering his name throughout a great variety of NIAA - Nevada State High School Record Book categorical listings.
"Being a student-athlete is a great privilege. To give anything less than your best for such an incredible privilege is disrespectful," Billingsley wrote in his essay. "To be a true student-athlete one must excel in the classroom, in the hallway, in the locker room,
in the community and on the playing field. The last four years I have been striving to excel in all these areas."
Billingsley finished his football career with 9,502 total yards. He threw for 1,209 yards and 16 touchdowns, rushed for 5,666 yards (third best career total all-time) and 66 touchdowns (No. 4), tallied 847 yards and seven touchdowns receiving, and returned kicks for 1,780 yards and two touchdowns. He scored 87 touchdowns (No. 4) and intercepted 11 opponents' passes (No. 7). He was named the Class 3A state Player of the Year after this past, senior season. He was named previously to a variety of all-Northern League and state first teams, including being listed on those teams as a running back, linebacker, safety and return specialist.
He completed his wrestling career with an overall record of 223-8 (59-1 as a senior), and the maximum of four state individual and team championships. Billingsley set the state record with his career win total, and he also ranks in the top five all-time
with season wins (59, but No. 4 with recent season limitations and No. 1 non-4A), career falls (140, No. 5 but No. 1 with new season limitations), season falls (40, No. 7 but No. 2 with new season limitations) and consecutive victories (45).
In baseball, Billingsley batted better than .400 during his sophomore and junior seasons, and was listed as one of the Northern League's top offensive and defensive (shortstop) performers after the early part of this past senior, spring season.
Billingsley, who was a team captain each season, relished his leadership roles both in the classroom and at the athletic venue.
"I knew that the way the team acted and competed would resemble the leadership of the team. Begin a part of a team that competed with integrity and class was of the utmost importance to me. When teammates see the leaders of a team excelling in the classroom as well, they try to do the same. When people start doing things with positive character, it soon becomes a habit and a way of life."
Billingsley, who is a member of the National Honor Society, assisted his community in a variety of ways. He has coached the youth wrestling program, and officiated in the youth football and baseball leagues. He has volunteered numerous hours for the Nevada Department of Wildlife (assisting primarily with habitat restoration projects). He is also a member of the Friends of the Refuge and Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge organizations.
"I always cared for my friends and teammates, sometimes crying with them in defeat or joy," Billingsley wrote. "I did everything my teachers, coaches and community members asked of me to the best of my ability. I tried to lead by setting the best example
possible, all in pursuit of becoming the best possible true athlete I could be. I can only hope that through my own actions I will someday be able to give back to people the lessons and joy that this opportunity to be a student-athlete has given me."
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