The Class of 2007--Wyoming’s top 14 high school and University of Wyoming football scholar-athletes--was announced today by the Wyoming Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. The athletes, including the first ever finalists from Hanna-Elk Mountain and Burns High Schools, will be honored at the chapter’s 14th annual awards banquet on Saturday, March 15, at the Casper Ramkota Inn.

The 14 honorees come from a field of 94 nominations from 37 different Wyoming high schools plus the University of Wyoming. Their football coaches nominate the Scholar-Athletes. The Wyoming Chapter will also honor two high school athletes for their courage and perseverance, plus recognize ten state residents for their respective contributions to amateur football, coaching, officiating and fandom.

Wyoming Chapter President Mike Schutte said the process of selecting the finalists “from 94 great nominees was extremely difficult but our selection committee, chaired by Jeff Felton of Cheyenne, did a super job and we have 14 exceptional young men to honor.”

In the Class 2A and Class 5A Outstanding Back categories, Schutte said the voting was so close that the committee selected two Scholar-Athletes to be honored in each of those classifications.

The 2007 Wyoming High School Football Scholar-Athlete Finalists are:

Class 1A: Justin Palm, lineman, Hanna-Elk Mountain; and David Moats,back, Guernsey-Sunrise.

Class 2A: Jay Leininger, lineman, Burns; plus Rob Johnson, back, Tongue River and Ray Moore, back, Sundance.

Class 3A: Randall Haefele, lineman, Wright; and Kray Lutz, back, Glenrock.

Class 4A: Matthew Sebade, lineman, Lander Valley; and Scott Boner, back, Douglas.

Class 5A: Matt Cook, lineman, Cheyenne Central; plus Kyle Crandall, back, Evanston and Alex Stratton, back, Cheyenne East,

Jordon Cooney of Pine Bluffs High School will receive the chapter’s Scholar-Athlete Courage award and Firdose Kahn of Sheridan High School will receive the chapter’s Scholar-Athlete Perseverance Award.

All of honorees will be awarded plaques and $1,000 scholarships. The Top High School Football Scholar-Athlete of the year will be announced at the banquet and will receive an additional $1,000 scholarship. The names of all the Finalists will be inscribed in the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana.

Members of the Wyoming Chapter’s Selection Committee include: Don Dinnel of Rawlins, Kay Fackrell of Evanston, Jeff Felton of Cheyenne, Leroy Hayes of Thermopolis, Mike Lopiccolo of Rock Springs, Lew Roney of Cheyenne, Rick Scherry of Big Horn, Mark Bullington of Torrington, Sam Mirich of Cheyenne and Jason Sleep of Powell.

The Wyoming Chapter remains the second largest chapter in the nation out of 120 chapters. Schutte said he and the board of directors are working hard to make Wyoming the largest chapter from the least p opulated state.