Two honored for work in sports and classroom

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, May 6, 1998 | 9:04 a.m.

One runs track and the other plays volleyball, basketball and softball.

Each has a weighted Grade Point Average of 4.7.

Both participate in numerous extracurricular activities.

They're the 1998 recipients of the Fiesta Casino/Hotel Scholarship Award, presented annually to one male and one female student from the Clark County School District. The awards, presented Tuesday to John Ziegler of Cheyenne High School and Melissa Moynihan of Boulder City High School, include a $5,000 contribution from the hotel to the student's college fund.

Ziegler and Moynihan are set to attend Nevada-Reno this fall.

"These are two great individuals," Fiesta owner George Maloof said. "In the letters of recommendation we received for them, they were constantly referred to as exceptional, dignified, polite and caring."

The winners emerged from a field of 30 entrants, and, later, from among six finalists. An eight-person panel made the selections on Maloof's behalf.

Ziegler is Senior class president and valedictorian at Cheyenne. He'll major in engineering at UNR.

"I'm very grateful for this," he said of receiving the award. "It shows that hard work does pay off."

Moynihan, also a senior, was named Boulder City's female athlete of the year after participating in three sports for four years. She is also the school president for the National Honor Society and the Letterman's Club.

She's undecided about her collegiate major.

"It's really nice to see her recognized," said her father, Rich. "She was pleased just to be one of the finalists and thrilled when she was told she won."

Moynihan was unable to attend the presentation ceremony as she was in Ely with her Boulder City teammates for a crucial game with White Pine.