Meet February's Academic Athlete of the Month, distance runner Reese Leoncavallo

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Green Valley High School distance runner Reese Leoncavallo has been named Channel 13's Academic Athlete of the Month, an award sponsored by West Coast Trial Lawyers.

Known to his teammates as "the Hawk," Leoncavallo has earned a reputation not only for his distance running skills but also for the energy and encouragement he brings to those around him.

WATCH Reese Leoncavallo receive his Academic Athlete of the Month honors from West Coast Trial Lawyers:

The nickname has an origin story Leoncavallo is happy to share.

"There's a video of me. I'm screaming. My friend Yui recorded it. It's time to uncage the hawk, and I got my hair into a mohawk and I just screamed."

"And ever since then, I haven't not caught anyone, no one's ever caught me, so that's what they call me now. They just call me Reese the Hawk."

Leoncavallo credits much of his success to a coach he has known since fifth grade.

"My coach, his name is Coach Parker Gatewood. I met him when I was in 5th grade. He taught me that you don't get places without working hard. Every time I see him, he has a smile on his face, and he just, he taught me something once. He said if, if you look at someone and they're not smiling, you need to smile at them."

That attitude has left a lasting impression on his teammates. One teammate spoke about the humility Leoncavallo brings to the team.

"I think one thing people don't see is how humble he is. Like he's always there, no matter who the teammate is. He's always like smiling to them."

That encouragement has had a direct impact on at least one teammate's performance.

"I was first race. I was nervous. Reese came up and he's like, You got this goob. You're going to do great. And I was able to get 5th out of like 400 people, and I knew it was because of his motivation."

A coach also spoke to the example Leoncavallo sets for younger athletes.

"The kids really look up to him to say, wow, I really want to be like him because he just wants to keep going even though we tell him like rest, take a minute. And I think that really helping the upcoming athletes to see what it really takes."

For Leoncavallo, the message is simple.

"So always just staying positive to me it's just so important because um you gotta be your number one fan. So if you're not cheering for yourself, who's gonna cheer for you?"

Academic Athlete of the Month is sponsored by West Coast Trial Lawyers.

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