Six of the area’s recent high school graduates received a little boost to fund their college education on Wednesday night.

KSAL and the Salina Media Group presented its annual Sportscasters Club Scholarship Banquet at St. John’s Military School. Five Saline County high schools (Salina Central, Salina South, Sacred Heart, Southeast of Saline and Ell-Saline) and Abilene High School each nominated three senior student-athletes for the honor for their school.

Winners were Salina Central’s Shaelyn Martin, Salina South’s Marisa Mitchell, Sacred Heart’s Tracie Thibault, Southeast of Saline’s Lindsay Poague, Ell-Saline’s Paige Johnson and Abilene’s Jesse Patrick.

The night also included a keynote address from new Kansas State University women’s basketball head coach Jeff Mittie. Mittie told the crowd he was impressed by the list of accomplishments for all of the nominees. He also noted that the honesty and integrity of people in Kansas are part of the reason why he wanted the coaching job at K-State. It also allows him and his wife to return to the area. Mittie is from Blue Springs, Mo., while his wife is a native of Junction City and graduated from Chapman High School.

This year’s scholarship winners are awarded a plaque and a $1,000 scholarship to the institution they will be attending. This year’s scholarship money is up from the $400 awarded per winner last year.

The KSAL/SMG Sportscasters Club is comprised of area businesses which sponsor game broadcasts and fund the scholarship.