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North Summit graduates two of the best

Jason Strykowski, of the Record staff

Two Coalville students graduated this week with high honors and both are headed to Utah State University next fall.

Ashlin Olsen, Valedictorian, and Chase Black, Salutatorian, of North Summit High School graduated with the rest of the Class of 2008 Thursday in front of a packed housed at the North Summit auditorium.

Chase Black

Chase Black, who entertained the commencement audience with his humor, was born and raised in Coalville and starred at North Summit as both an athlete and a student. Over his four-year career at the school Black participated in three sports and many after-school activities. "When I came in to high school I said I wasn’t going to have any regrets," he said. To that end, Black won the state title as a wrestler in the 171-pound class and played both offensive and defensive tackle on the football squad. He risked further bodily harm on the rodeo circuit.

Black’s association with rodeo came not only from his upbringing in Coalville, but also from his membership in the Future Farmers of America (FFA). Between chorus, school leadership and four years of seminary, Black still found time to serve as Vice President of the FFA.

Aside from these activities, Chase also raised money for charity with the Sub for Santa program. He and others collected enough funds to buy Christmas gifts for those who could not normally afford them.

Most important to Black, over the last few years, has been his passion for music. He demonstrated that love as he played a graduation-themed rendition of Billy Joel’s "Piano Man" during the ceremony.

Ashlin Olsen

Another Coalville local, Ashlin Olsen also managed to excel at both sports and academics while a student at North Summit. But, when she first enrolled at the school, Olsen recalled her frayed nerves and anxiety over the social rigors of high school.

Her initial anxiety didn’t keep her down for long. Olsen began to play varsity softball as a freshman and continued her senior year. Raised the daughter of a college baseball player, Olsen never had any doubt that she would play softball. She later joined the volleyball team as well. In her last year, Olsen received an Academic All-State award in softball.

Olsen’s other extracurricular activities were no less impressive. Like Black, Olsen is a music aficionado with years of practice and she also participated as a member of the math team and the peer leaders, she also volunteered at the National Ability Center and the elementary school and tutored some of her fellow students in math.

As Olsen leaves North Summit she said that she will look back on a collegial atmosphere that allowed her to be friends with many of the other students. "We basically know everyone in the school," she said, and added, "your friends are the ones who are in your class."

For their parting words to other students Olsen said, "time is like a coin, you can spend it however you wish but you can only spend it once." For his part, Black told his former fellow students, "just to live every moment to its fullest and have no regrets."

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