Clinton High School is a tight-knit community. One stitch helping to hold them all together is senior Ryan Freeman.

“Ryan is like a diamond in the rough, after 28 years, you don’t see students like Ryan come around very often,” Clinton High School teacher Venetia Mann said.

“You’re so thankful that he’s there and you wish more of your students were like him,” Clinton High School teacher Jennifer Dirks said.

A 4.6 GPA, part of the swim and golf team, plus a captain on the boys soccer team, Freeman is even keel no matter what the playing surface is.

“He’s kind of 98.6, he doesn’t get too excited about what’s happening, he never gets too down, he just does his job,” Clinton High School Director of Athletics and soccer coach Brad Spell said.

This season, that job meant helping the team win a 2A state championship. The Dark Horses did it back when he was in middle school. Freeman said it was a dream come true.

“I was like, ‘woah,’ we actually have a chance, starting in the summer and stuff, you don’t really think about how far ahead it is, you have to take it piece by piece,” Freeman said.

Just getting a chance to do this with his friends, who he’s known for so long, that’s what meant the most to Freeman.

“I’m not his mama, but you just feel so proud when you see that kind of teammwork and leadership,” Dirks said.

He passes that leadership to the community, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, Adpot a Highway and his youth group at church.

“Yes he is a great athlete, but he’s really a good, good genuine person, and I think that’s what I’m most excited about, is that he’s really a good all-around kid,” Mann said.

And that’s why Ryan Freeman is this week’s winner of the Tom Suiter Extra Effort Award.