Marquette Senior High School, along with Superiorland Kiwanis, are proud to announce that Lily Eberhard (girls soccer) and Cullen Papin (boys track & field) have been named as the Student-Athletes of the Month for April 2024.
Lily Eberhard is of senior class standing at MSHS and competing in her fourth season as a center attacking midfielder on the Varsity Girls Soccer Team.
As a tenured leader within the group, Lily has been instrumental in the team’s success. Since April 18th, Lily has helped guide the team to seven consecutive wins, including adding two goals during yesterday’s 3-2 senior night victory over Sault Ste. Marie. Overall, the team owns a 8-2-1 record on the year with Lily having turned in 11 goals and 2 assists.
During her career, Lily is a two-time U.P. Champion within the girls soccer program and has served as team captain for both the 2023 and 2024 seasons. With this season being the first opportunity for girls soccer to compete in the MHSAA postseason tournament in 17 years, Lily and her teammates are very much looking forward to district play beginning in late May.
Academically, Lily has 3.75 cumulative GPA to have her as a regular fixture on the MSHS honor roll. Lily’s extracurricular involvement extends far beyond soccer as she currently serves as Vice President of the MSHS Student Council, where she is a four-year member, in addition to being a member of the High School Chorale and Peer-to-Peer programs. She has also been a past participant in the MSHS Volleyball and Girls Basketball programs. Later this month, Lily has been selected to receive a “Special Area Award” from the Louis G. Kaufman Foundation.
Upon graduating from MSHS, Lily will be attending Grand Valley State University next fall to pursue a degree in Speech Language Pathology.
Cullen Papin is a Class of 2024 senior and is competing as a member of the MSHS Boys Track & Field Team. In addition to being a four-year member of the track & field program, Cullen is also a four-year member of the boys cross country program and two-year participant in the boys basketball program.
As the end of his final track season draws near, Cullen is looking to be the first male student-athlete in MHSAA history to have competed and won four state championships in the sports of cross country and track & field. At last Friday’s (5/3/24) Ken Bell Invitational hosted by Traverse City Central, Cullen turned in an impressive time of 2:02.02 in the 800M to take 2nd place in the competition.
Cullen is a 10-time All-State and All-U.P. performer on the track, which includes a 2023 Division 1 title as part of MSHS’ winning 1600M Relay team. This fall, he finished 10th at the 2023 U.P. Cross Cross Country Finals as Marquette set a new MHSAA Finals record with a team score of 22 points en route to the program’s fifth consecutive Division 1 title.
In the classroom, Cullen owns an outstanding 4.31 cumulative GPA to have him as one of MSHS’ top academic performers. With those marks, Cullen has been named as an Excellence in Education Award and “Special Area” Award from the Louis G. Kaufman Foundation in addition to receiving the University of Michigan’s Axel Marin Scholarship. As a leader among his peers, Cullen also serves as president of both the MSHS Student Council and National Honor Society.
Upon graduating from MSHS later this month, Cullen plans on attending the University of Michigan to pursue a degree in Engineering.