An historic streak and a lengthy drought came to an end at The Edge on Tuesday afternoon when the Anderson Noon Exchange Club held its 56th annual Red Haven Award ceremony.
Spencer Proctor of Anderson High School was named the winner from another group of highly qualified candidates, snapping a three-year run of Frankton winners and bringing the trophy back to South Madison Avenue for the first time since 2013 when Matt Harter was the winner.
He is the eighth athlete from Anderson to take home the award, trailing only Alexandria with 11, Pendleton Heights with 10 and Elwood with nine.
“It was kind of unexpected because there are a lot of people who deserve it,” Proctor said. “It’s especially (overwhelming) when you look at the people who have won it and all they have done.”
The nominees alongside Proctor were Julia Smith of Anderson Prep, Allie Clark of Alexandria, Owen Hinchman of Elwood, Sam Barr of Frankton, AnnaLee Stow of Lapel, Kathleen Warren of Liberty Christian and Caden Sims of Pendleton Heights.
The high-quality level of nominees was not lost on Proctor, who appreciated those student-athletes he was nominated alongside.
“I’ve had some friends who have been nominated (before) and deserved it,” he said. “It’s a great feeling.”
The eight seniors were nominated by their Madison County school’s athletic directors and coaches for their excellence in sports, academics and community service. The award was named in honor of the late Orville “Red” Haven, who was sports editor of The Anderson Herald and often wrote stories about the players’ achievements in the classroom and in the community.
Proctor was chosen as the student who best exemplified those attributes by Anderson athletic director Steven Schindler.
“He’s just an all-around great kid, charisma-wise, athletic-wise and academic-wise. Everyone loves him,” Schindler said. “Whether it be basketball, cross country or track, I’ve never seen him get down. Everybody is always cheering for him.”
The list of accomplishments for Proctor is as extensive as it is impressive.
While earning 11 varsity letters in cross country, basketball and track-and-field, Proctor will be the Valedictorian of his class of 329 with a grade-point average of 4.927. He is a Lilly Scholarship finalist and will study engineering at Purdue.
Athletically, he has earned all-county and all-conference honors while captaining both the cross country and basketball teams and was a part of three straight Madison County boys basketball championship teams. He adds that starting for the Indians this year and being a part of the rebirth of Anderson basketball has been the sports highlight of his high school career.
“The past three years, I didn’t get a lot of playing time. But the first game of the season, I was out there starting, and that was a crazy feeling to go out there and hear my name called,” he said. “Getting back to where it used to be, I’m glad to be a part of bringing it back a little bit.”
In addition to being the class valedictorian, he has been named first-team academic All-State for basketball and track as well as all-North Central Conference for all three sports.
The son of Kristi and Greg Proctor has been heavily involved in a number of extracurricular activities as well, including National Honor Society, student council, Madison Park Youth Group, volunteering at youth basketball camps, Anderson Pow-Wow, Grandview Park cleanup, Greenbrier Church game worker, Anderson Fourth of July Celebration and Minority Health Coalition sports assistant.
Most notably, Proctor has been found helping the underprivileged through food and coat giveaways.
“Seeing the impact you can make and how you can make someone’s day, that’s really cool,” he said. “Seeing that impact really drove me to keep doing it.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.