All-Academic Team: Catherine Althoff, Mount St. Mary

Catherine Althoff finally gave herself some time off.

After playing basketball and attending classes at Mount St. Mary over the past four years, Althoff is spending the summer at home as she prepares for college.

"It's been good, but pretty boring," she said. "There's not much to do with the [coronavirus] pandemic. But I'm getting ready for college."

Althoff shined academically, as she had a 4.51 GPA and scored a 32 on the ACT. She was a member of the National Honor Society, Beta Club and Mu Alpha Theta.

In June, Althoff earned the Walter E. Hussman Community Award at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's All-Arkansas Preps virtual banquet. Hussman is the publisher of the Democrat-Gazette.

Althoff will head to Rhodes College in Memphis on an academic scholarship. She also will continue her basketball career at the school.

Mount St. Mary, a girls-only private school in Little Rock, qualified for the Class 6A state tournament for the first time in three seasons this year. The Belles compete in the 6A-Central Conference, which features state title contenders North Little Rock, Conway, Fort Smith Northside and Cabot, among others.

"We played against some of the toughest teams in the state," Althoff said. "But I couldn't imagine being on any other team."

She plans to major in biology and has expressed an interest in minoring in math.

"I want to be a sports-medicine doctor," Althoff said. "I love everything about it."