Amanda Cullinan Scholarships Awarded to Spectacular Duo

Huntington High School seniors Nehu Ramsay and Ella O’Heir are this year’s recipients of the Amanda Hertig Cullinan Student-Athlete Resiliency Award. The $2,500 scholarships were presented at the 56th Blue Devil senior athletic awards ceremony.

Mr. Ramsay will be attending Mount Saint May College. Ms. O’Heir is headed to Fairfield University. The second year scholarship honors a Class of 1996 member who starred on the girls’ lacrosse team and who also served as the high school’s student government president.

Mrs. Cullinan passed away in May 2022 after a four year battle with breast cancer. She was a married mother of three living in Summerfield, North Carolina who served as a head coach of the varsity girls’ lacrosse team at Northern Guilford High School.

Mrs. Cullinan’s husband, Justin and her best friend, Erin Zammett-Ruddy were on hand to announce that Mr. Ramsey and Ms. O’Heir had captured the 2024 scholarships and to speak briefly about the award. Fourteen remarkable Blue Devil senior student-athletes submitted applications. Mrs. Zammett-Ruddy said she wished “we could give every single one of them a scholarship. They are all so deserving.”

Known as Amanda Hertig during her time at Huntington High School, she played on the Blue Devils’ 1994 county and state championship girls’ soccer team and on the 1996 county champion and state finalist girls’ lacrosse team.

Born in Keokuk, Iowa on June 21, 1978, Amanda Hertig moved to Huntington as a first grader. After playing for the Blue Devil girls’ lacrosse team’s founding coach, Mary Paar she went on to study biology and play lacrosse at Brown University.

“Amanda wanted the award to be given to a student-athlete who has demonstrated great resiliency in the face of adversity, whether that be in the classroom, on the playing field or in life,” according to the application. “Someone who has faced obstacles big or small and not given up; a person who has struggled, but kept fighting. No one was more resilient than Amanda. This foundation and these scholarships will be a huge part of her legacy and will give all of those who loved her a way to honor her inspiring life.”

The Huntington alum served as the mistress of ceremonies at Huntington High School’s 1996 commencement exercises.

“To sum up Amanda’s zest for life, while in hospice care she and her family went on vacation to Turks and Caicos,” according to an online tribute. “On day five, she said, ‘I’m leaving it all on the field’ and went down a waterslide. She never missed an opportunity to show her kids how life should be lived.”

Ms. O’Heir is beloved by her classmates and teachers. She’s a very hard worker who maintained top grades while playing sports, working a part-time job and dealing with family challenges.

“Resilience on and off the field is one of the most important characteristics of an athlete,” Ms. O’Heir wrote in an essay to the scholarship committee. “It is not an easy characteristic to maintain, however I have tried my best throughout the years. On the field I have shown resilience in field hockey and golf. During this most recent field hockey season, I had to be resilient while rebuilding our varsity team. Coming off our best season in school history, our varsity team had to rebuild and learn how to work together. As a captain I had to lead by example and teach the new players to push ourselves and work our hardest at games and practice. Many of the new players were not used to playing on a varsity level meaning I had to push the whole team to keep our heads up even while having a rough season. Off of the field I have had to show resilience by taking care of myself after my mom died when I was 11. My dad has always been very hand off so after my mom passed, I had a much higher level of independence compared to other kids my age. I have pushed myself to maintain good grades while also working multiple jobs to provide for myself. While many other kids could have taken advantage of my amount of freedom I kept on the right track to ensure my acceptance into college so I can learn about business and eventually create an even better life for myself in the future.”

Mr. Ramsay, who played on the Blue Devil varsity lacrosse team, has also achieved notably while he, too, dealt with serious challenges. In a scholarship essay he wrote about his mom’s battle with cancer and how it affected the entire family.

“It was a difficult time, but through her strength and determination, my mother managed to take control of the disease, and the experience taught me valuable lessons about life,” Mr. Ramsay wrote. “The diagnosis came as a shock to us all. My mother had always been healthy, and we never imagined that cancer would be a part of our lives. But when the doctor delivered the news, she knew that she had to face it head-on. My mother immediately took charge of her treatment. As my mother began her treatment, I saw firsthand the strength and resilience that she possessed. She never gave up, even when the side effects of chemotherapy made her feel weak, tired and even the thought of death. Instead, she focused on the end goal, determined to beat the disease and emerge stronger on the other side.”

Mr. Ramsay said his mom’s fight “taught me many lessons about life. Firstly, it showed me the importance of resilience and determination. Life can be tough, and we will inevitably face challenges along the way. But it is our ability to bounce back and keep going that ultimately determines our success. My mother has never given up, even when the road ahead seemed long and difficult. She showed me that it is possible to overcome even the toughest of obstacles with a strong spirit and a determined mindset.”