Carmi-White County seniors Caleb Seibers and Mara Serafini have been voted as the 2024 WRUL Male and Female Athletes of the Year!
The 2023-2024 school year was one of the greatest athletic years in CWCHS history, with numerous championship teams filled with talented athletes. Seibers and Serafini were at the forefront of it all.
For Caleb Seibers, 2023-2024 came with much adversity.
On the football field, Seibers led the Black Diamond Conference in rushing through the first three weeks of the season. On the final play of a monster 3-touchdown game against Sesser-Valier in Week 4, Seibers broke his ankle, ending his season.
The initial hope for Seibers was that he would be able to return in time for baseball season, but a speedy recovery allowed his to return in the middle of his senior wrestling season. Seibers was dominant on the mat throughout the remainder of the season, and was geared for a postseason run. However, Seibers would re-aggravate the aforementioned ankle in regionals and would again be forced to end his senior season short.
Despite the setback, Seibers would be healed and ready just in time for baseball season, his top sport. Seibers committed to play college baseball at Olney Central College last year, and he made sure to end his high school career with a bang. Seibers ended his senior season with a .423 batting average, 33 RBI, and 4 home runs as the Bulldogs won 20+ games for the first time since 2006.
For Mara Serafini, the 2023-2024 season was as historic as it could get.
Serafini began the school year in leading the Carmi-White County Lady Bulldog Volleyball team on one of the greatest postseason runs in school history.
Serafini and the Lady Dogs cruised their way to a Regional Championship in Lawrenceville, followed by upsetting the #8 ranked Fairfield Lady Mules in the Pinckeyville Sectional Championship, and then defeating Champaign St. Thomas More in the Robinson Super-Sectional to punch their ticket to the IHSA State Finals. The Lady Bulldogs brought home 4th Place, capping off a season for the ages.
Serafini then began basketball practice a week later, embarking the best season for the Lady Bullodgs in a decade and a half. Serafini averaged 16 points per contest while also surpassing the 1,000 career point mark, leading the Lady Bulldogs to a 26-6 record and their first Black Diamond Conference Championship since 2009. Serafini was named to the IBCA All-South Team as well as an Honorable Mention on the IHSA 2A All-State Team, and was voted MVP of the Black Diamond Conference.
In the spring, Serafini brought more success with her to the softball diamond. The Wabash Valley College commit helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to a 22-7 record which included a Black Diamond Conference Championship and their first Regional Championship since 2016. Their season ended in a 14-inning heartbreaker to the #1 ranked Carterville Lady Lions in the IHSA Sectional Semifinals. In her senior year, Serafini had a .460 batting average with 24 RBI and 3 HR.
Caleb Seibers and Mara Serafini are prime examples of what it means to be a Carmi-White County Bulldog. Hard work and dedication with excellence in everything they do. They will be very difficult to replace, and the CWC sports community will miss them dearly.
Congratulations to Caleb Seibers and Mara Serafini, your 2024 WRUL Male & Female Athletes of the Year!
