Grove City High School senior, Eamon Castaldi has been named the 2025 Courageous Student Award winner from the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA).
Annually, the OHSAA awards a Courageous Student recognition to a student who has overcome a serious illness, injury, or disability.
When asked how he tries to demonstrate courage and resiliency at school and among peers, Eamon’s message is simple, yet profound: “Just do it. Just go out and do it” – inspiration he takes from seated athletes he describes as mentors in that of athletes Jenna Fesemyer and Tatyana McFadden. Eamon also credits former classmate, and 2024 GCHS graduate, Esther-Faith Henn for his successes on the track and in inspiration.
Eamon has been an adaptive track athlete (seated racer) since eighth grade and has competed in the OHSAA State Track Meet for three years (including this year’s upcoming event in June).
“I started in the eighth grade and was [Jackson Middle School’s] first seated races,” said Eamon. “I then took a year off between my freshman year because the transition from middle school to high school was a big one.”
While Eamon’s state track performances have been impressive, it is perhaps his passion off the track that is equally as admirable as he strives to find ways to grow adaptive sports across the state of Ohio.
When looking at colleges in his junior year, he found there were no Collegiate Adaptive Track programs, and very few collegiate adaptive sports programs in general, in the entire state of Ohio. This forced him to look out of state for college because he knew he had to continue with his track career. The frustration he had from this experience sparked his passion to advocate for and grow adaptive sports programs and awareness both at home in Ohio and across the nation.
When application time officially came following months of research, he found that the University of Cincinnati had recently launched an adaptive track program. After much thought, mulling over other offers, he would ultimately commit to the University of Cincinnati where he hopes to pursue a degree in Sports Administration to empower his passion of growing the adaptive sports options for more adaptive athletes in Ohio and nationally.
“My ultimate goal is to grow be able to get more programming for adaptive sports programs, regardless of what sport it is into colleges and universities in the state of Ohio,” said Eamon. “I want to show kids at the middle school and high school level, that that you don’t have to look just have to look out of state for this. I am just really focused on that one main goal right now.”
Beyond the upcoming state track meet, Eamon will also be competing at the 2025 Great Lakes Games in Lake Forest, Illinois this summer.
Following college and further adaptive sports advocacy efforts, Eamon hopes to get into coaching at a university or back at Grove City High School to help students grow. Congratulations Eamon on your outstanding OHSAA achievement and best of luck at the state competition in June!
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