By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
INDIANAPOLIS – Bedford North Lawrence senior Karsyn Norman was named the winner of the prestigious Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award following the Class 4A state championship game on Saturday night.
Norman is the sixth BNL winner of the honor for girls basketball. The recipient, nominated by the school’s principal and coach, must excel in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership, and athletic ability.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” Norman said. “I wasn’t expecting it. I do my best to lead and keep a positive attitude, but I thought it was going to someone else. Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it.”
Norman, a future Indiana All-Star and Butler recruit averaged 16 points and 4.2 assists. She was limited to 2 points and 4 assists in the title game, but she wouldn’t trade stats for any trophy, especially one that links her to the greats in BNL history.
“Something my Mamaw always told me,” Norman said. “I won a mental attitude at an all-star game before, and she said I’d rather you win that than MVP. It just stuck with me.”
Norman’s parents, Tevin and Jamie, joined their daughter for the award presentation.
“I am so proud of this kid,” Tevin told the roaring BNL audience. “She leaves it all out on the floor. Ever since the third grade, that group of girls (pointing to the team), this was our goal, our dream.”
“It’s just overwhelming,” Jamie added. “There are no words. I’m so proud of her, proud of these girls. They just never give up.”
Norman is ranked 12th in her class of 284 students with a 4.14 GPA. She is a member of the Beta and French Clubs, the National Honor Society, Student Athletic Leadership, and Champions Together.
Previous BNL award winners included Shannon Cummings (1990), Carrie Mount (1991), Marla Inman (1992), Carli Fields (2013), and Whitney Wilson (2014). In addition, the school has also won two Mental Attitude Awards in swimming (Dan Schultz in 1995, Taylor Sanders in 2009), boys track (Lee Wildman in 1977), boys basketball (Damon Bailey in 1990), and Unified Track (Jesselyn Fisher and Tanner Robbins in 2022).
