If Tyler Callihan does it, he does it well.

The Karns City senior graduated this year as Butler County's leading scorer and his school's career scoring record holder in basketball, and the Gremlins' best pitcher and hitter in baseball.

Along with impressive statistics in sports, he carried a 4.0 grade point average throughout his high school career and ranked among the top 10 in his class.

These achievements earned Callihan the Sprint Scholar Athlete of the Year for the 2004-05 school year and a $1,000 scholarship. He will attend Slippery Rock University next year, studying math and actuarial science.

"Sprint runs this scholar athlete program throughout the United States and takes pride in supporting the youth in our communities," said Theresa Brick, Sprint's public affairs manager. "What kids like Tyler contribute to society is incredible."

Callihan's older brother, Joe, was valedictorian of his 2002 graduating class at Karns City and played football, basketball and baseball for the Gremlins.

"Having him as a big brother, he set the standard for me," Callihan said. "Following Joe, … I didn't want to let my parents down.

"We grew up competitive with each other. We played one-on-one basketball in the driveway. We'd play catch and see who could throw the ball harder."

Karns City basketball coach Steve Andreassi said Callihan's family background helped motivate him toward success.

"His father, his uncles, his brother, a lot of people set the bar high for him," Andreassi said. "Every so often, you get a kid coming through your school district who excels in everything he does. That was Tyler.

"The example he set on the basketball court, combined with his classroom performance, gave him incredible influence on the rest of the team. The younger kids were in awe of him."

During basketball season, Callihan studied right after school, since practice didn't begin until 5 p.m. During baseball season, he studied after dinner, since games were played right after school.

In between, he found time to qualify for the District 9 track and field meet in the long jump.

"I never found it hard to get motivated to study," Callihan said. "School helps to set up your life."

Callihan was a member of the National Honor Society, Peer Leadership and Students Against Destructive Decisions in high school.

The latter organization had kids sign a Prom Promise that they would not drink and drive on prom night and discourages drinking and drug use in general.

He said playing catch almost every day gave him the kind of control that enabled him to strike out 74 and walk only three in 46 innings pitched this spring.

"With any kind of luck, Tyler would have been 9-0 this spring," Gremlins baseball coach Rocky Brown said. "He was our team captain and he kept us in every game.

"He's a smart kid with a tremendous upbringing who combined work ethic with talent. You can't replace a kid like that. You only hope to get somebody half that good."

Despite his high school success, Callihan won't be competing in college. He didn't receive any basketball scholarship offers and wasn't encouraged to walk on at Slippery Rock.

"It's heartbreaking to me that my (athletic) career is ending this way," Callihan said. "I've been competitive all my life. It's hard to accept that part of my life is ending. It baffles me. I guess I didn't have whatever (the recruiters) were looking for.

"It may be for the best. Going from little Karns City to college life is a big adjustment to start with," Callihan added.

Given his track record, it's an adjustment Callihan will make with little difficulty.

"The dedication to education is what it's about," Brick said. "It's pretty clear that Tyler has that."