WMBB News 13 - The Panhandle's News LeaderBay High's Nick Fasbinder- Scholar Athlete of the Week

The Bay High soccer team has made a lot of noise in high school soccer over the past few seasons. Last year, the squad made it to the Regional Finals as the only remaining public school, and this year, the team made the regional semis before losing a heartbreak Friday night.

The Tornadoes couldn't have done it without the help of Senior midfielder Nick Fasbinder, and for  Nick, the loss means the end of the road in his time in the red and black.

"Just recently I'm starting to realize that this is the end of the line as far as this goes. I mean really, it's just having a good time with the team," says Nick.

For Nick and his teammates, this season reflects plenty of good times- as the squad boasted a perfect 10-0 record heading into the district tournament- capped off by winning this year's District Championship.

But Nick is also winning in the classroom- as he's ranked #1 in his Senior class, with over a 4.7 GPA in Bay High's AICE program.

"You're tired when you get home from practice. But you just got to have the focus to get to the school work," says Nick. "I don't brag on myself. There's a lot of smart students- I'm really just one of the few."

"It makes you wonder how many hours a day he actually is functioning on," says head coach Ron Houpt. "The stuff that he does on and off the field is incredible that he can combine all that, prioritize everything, come out here, play soccer and play it well."

Nick specialized on defense in his Senior campaign, and plans on specializing in Biology Pre-Med once he gets to the University of Florida, where he'll focus on just being a student.

"Whatever he decides to do, he's going to be a success at. It's pretty obvious that the work rate that he's able to work through, and the stuff he's able to do right now," says Coach Houpt. "He's just going to continue getting better and better at that."

"My siblings and my parents taught me to strive to always be my best. I just tried to stay away from distractions," says Nick of his success in the classroom.

Striving to be his best- and while the loss was the end of the road at Bay High for Nick, he's got quite the journey ahead of him in the future. Nick says he plans on still playing soccer just for fun once he gets to Gainesville.