Amanda Cullinan Scholarship Presented to Thomas Kline

Huntington High School three sport athlete Thomas Kline is this year’s recipient of the Amanda Hertig Cullinan Student-Athlete Resiliency Award. The $2,500 scholarship was presented at the 57th Blue Devil senior athletic awards ceremony.

The scholarship recognizes a cherished Huntington alum. 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 best friend, Erin Zammett-Ruddy was on hand to announce that Mr. Kline was this year’s award winner and to speak briefly about the scholarship. A record sixteen 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 master 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.”

Mr. Kline has been recruited by Loyola Maryland University to play on its NCAA Division I lacrosse team. He plans to pursue a business degree. He earned varsity high school letters with the Blue Devil football, basketball and lacrosse teams and owns an academic grade average in excess of 94. He was recognized this past spring as a Distinguished Senior.

“For the past 4 ½ years, I’ve navigated high school while grieving the three most important males in my life; my dad, my grandfather and my dog,” wrote Mr. Kline in his scholarship essay. “Losing them shook my world, but it didn’t stop me from moving forward. My dad used to say, ‘get busy living’ and that became my anthem. He was my lacrosse coach and instead of letting grief hold me down, I focused on what he taught me: grit, leadership and sportsmanship. Sports became my outlet; football, basketball and especially lacrosse; the medicine sport. I turned pain into fuel, using every practice, every game and every setback as a way to honor what I’ve lost and what I’ve learned. I’ve never missed a practice or a game.”

Mr. Kline has captured numerous academic and athletic awards, served as a team captain and been voted a post-season award honoree multiple times.

“Resilience isn’t just about surviving loss, it’s about choosing to live with purpose,” wrote Mr. Kline in the scholarship essay. “Grief changed me, but it didn’t break me. I’ve learned to face life with gratitude, discipline and the will to keep going, just like the men (and dog) who shaped me.”