Tracy Sumner Drives Toward Success

Sumner was on the varsity team for four years. This season she was the second leading scorer and rebounder, and an inspiration to many.

"Tracy is a wonderful kid," says coach Gil Bowman. "She is the kind of kid that a coach would like. She's not only a good athlete, she is a good person too. She doesn't understand the word selfish at all. She is totally a team oriented person. It's always we, never I."

Sumner has worked hard off the court to become a good basketball player, and she has worked just as hard to be an A student.

"I want to make the best of the ability I have been given," Sumner said. "I work hard to give 110 percent in the classroom and on the court, and try to do the very best that I can."

"Tracy is really a team player, not only on the court, but also in the classroom as well," teacher Robert D'Alessandro said. "Just her drive to succeed makes her real special. She's real conscientious. She wants to do her work, do it on time and be the best at it."

"She's made the statement that she wanted to give back to these little kids that admire her," Bowman said. "She wants to give some of the things that she has gained by being in basketball, and there is a goodness about Tracy in that."

"I want people to see me as a good person, a good student and a hardworking basketball player," Sumner said.

Tracy Sumner of Terry Sanford High School is this week's winner of theExtra Effort Award.