COLUMBUS GROVE, Ohio (WLIO) — Columbus Grove's Nicole Nesby has excelled across multiple sports.

A state champion in basketball, a three-year starter in volleyball and a regional qualifier for track and field.

The Bulldog senior displays that excellence as one of the top students with a 4.0 GPA.

"We knew that she had a lot of potential, and she had a lot of talent coming in," said Columbus Grove girls basketball head coach Brian Schroeder. "And because of the lack of size at that time within our program, she was plugged in first day of practice as kind of the varsity starter, and since then, we've just kind of had unprecedented success in our program."

And Nicole Nesby knows a thing or two about success. Whether it's in basketball, or volleyball or track and field, the Bulldog standout simply loves to compete.

"I think I'm really competitive sometimes, so I really just like playing those sports. I feel like I was kind of timid coming into my freshman year and then learning how to play with different players and playing in different programs has really like given me like kind of that confidence," said Nesby.

Schroeder added, "The first thing that stands out is just her maturation as a leader. She's always been hardworking. She's always been very intentional in what she does, but just her confidence in herself and in her abilities over her four years and then being the senior captain and leader that she is this year."

In addition to excelling in sports, Nicole's commitment to academics has earned her a perfect 4.0 GPA.

"She's just incredibly bright naturally and then when you pair that with her extremely good work ethic, it makes for a very good student. And challenging her is almost a challenge as a teacher because she does do so well in the classroom," said Columbus Grove psychology teacher John Vennekotter.

And when she graduates from Columbus Grove, Nicole plans to major in civil engineering.

"I've always kind of known I wanted to go into some type of engineering. I originally thought aerospace, but over this past like couple years I thought maybe like civil would be the better fit for me.

I think I want to work with renewable energy. Recently I've been kind of thinking about like wind turbines and working in that kind of area," said Nesby.

Looking back, Nicole treasures the memories she's made with her teammates and the Grove community, and she's thankful for the chance to represent the Bulldogs throughout her high school career.

"It's just helped me grow so much as a person, like on the court and off the court, and just like growing with my teammates and my fellow seniors, so I'll really miss it," said Nesby.

Congratulations to Nicole Nesby — our newest McDonald's Scholar Athlete of the Week.

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