A double triple

Both Blue Earth Area High School’s Triple A Award nominees, Nick Lee and Kate Hassing, are the Region 2A Triple A Award recipients. The two juggle three sports, music and academics on their busy schedules.
Blue Earth Area High School officials received some big news last Thursday morning.
Both of the school’s Triple A Award recipients won the Sub-section competition and were named the Region 2A Triple A Award recipients.
Nick Lee and Kate Hassing will now represent the Region at the State competition.
“This is a first for Blue Earth Area,” Activities Director Rob Norman says. “We have never had both our boy and girl representative win and move on – in fact I think it is a rare event in the whole state.”
The school has had several students move on to represent the region, and twice have had a student receive the State Triple A Award – both Daniel Murray and Janie Hanson won it in the past, but in separate years.
Hassing will receive her certificate, plaque and medal at the Girls Section Basketball final on March 12. Lee will receive his awards at the Boys Section Basketball final on March 19.
Four State Award recipients (a boy and a girl from both Class A and Class AA) will be announced at a special banquet on March 27 in conjunction with the Boys State Basketball tournament.
Those four award recipients each receive a four-year $1,000 scholarship.
The Triple A Award honors students who excel in athletics, academics and the arts.
Both Lee and Hassing have been active in three sports, band and music, and have excelled in the classroom.
Lee is the son of Bill Lee, Ankeny, Iowa, and Donna Nawrocki, Fairmont.
Hassing is the daughter of Shawn and Sue Hassing, of Blue Earth.
A story profiling the achievements of the two appeared in the Jan. 25 issue of the Faribault County Register.
Lee and Hassing both say they were quite surprised, especially that they had both been selected.
“I figured Mr. Norman was going to say it was Kate who won,” Lee says.
When Norman called the two into his office at the same time, they were curious.
“I figured he would call us in one at a time if just one of us got it,” Hassing says. “I wondered why we both were called – I didn’t think it was possible we had both won.”
Norman put on a sad face when they entered, and told the pair he had ‘bad’ news. The bad news was that they were going to have to make time in their busy schedules to go to the State Triple A banquet.