Avery Obermueller is the 2023 recipient of the (Joe) Ortiz Basketball Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded each year to an LHS senior who has been a contributing member of the Lady Leopards basketball team. When selecting the recipient, Ortiz takes into consideration academic status and extra-curricular involvement in addition to the level of participation in the basketball program.
Avery is the daughter of Ryan Obermueller and Angie (Wes) O’Bannon and plans to continue her education at Southwestern College where she will play volleyball and major in Elementary Education.
Ortiz has been awarding the scholarship for twentysix years and noted that the first several recipients were daughters of students he had taught and/or coached during his twenty-nine years with USD 298. Recent recipients, including Avery, are the grandchildren of his former students. In Avery’s case, he taught her dad, Ryan, and her paternal grandparents, Randy and Greta Obermueller.
