When Noah Detling and Emmaleigh Cox saw their names at the top of class rankings their sophomore years at Edinburgh Community High School, they worked hard to keep those spots.
Their efforts paid off.
Detling, with a 4.19 GPA, is the valedictorian and Cox, with a 4.02 GPA, is the salutatorian. Detling’s placing was solid, but the salutatorian contest was down to the wire.
“Everyone was really close. It was like a decimal point between us,” Cox said. “It was really close, it was crazy. I thought, ‘I don’t know if I’ll hold my spot but I hope I do.’”
Detling is proud to be at the top of the class and among just three young men in the top 10. It is the product of a lot of hard work and successfully completing all of the tasks before him, he said.
“Even assignments I didn’t want to do, I would do them anyway just to make sure I didn’t slip down,” Detling said.
Not just competitive in academics, Detling played four sports in high school. He played basketball and baseball throughout his high-school career, played football for a year and ran cross country his senior year.
Cox was more focused on academic extra curricular activities and serving the community during high school. Among other activities, she is senior class president, represented the school on the academic team for three years and served on the Student Enrichment Council.
Both students say their favorite memories of high school were good times with friends.
With high school nearly behind them, both Edinburgh natives are preparing to study at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in the fall.
Detling plans to study mechanical engineering, while Cox will major in medical imaging.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”The Detling File” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Noah Detling
School: Edinburgh Community High School
Class ranking: Valedictorian
Age: 18
Parents: Allison and Cary Detling
College plans: Major in mechanical engineering at IUPUI
Career goal: Undecided
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Name: Emmaleigh Cox
School: Edinburgh Community High School
Class ranking: Salutatorian
Age: 17
Parents: Julie and Edward Cox
College plans: Major in medical imaging at IUPUI
Career goal: Undecided
[sc:pullout-text-end]