High school: Luke Costantino, a positive force on and off the field, named Elyria Catholic's Lou Rotunda Award winner

It's been a tough year for high school seniors in the area but the coronavirus pandemic couldn't prevent the longest running Lorain County award from being presented at Elyria Catholic. The Lou Rotunda Award, given annually for the past 60 years, was first presented in 1960 to Jon Mitro, the lone senior to stick with it on the winless Panthers basketball team. Rotunda wanted to reward his loyalty in spite of the record. Rotunda, known as Mr. Elyria Catholic, died in 2011, but his legacy and the award remain. Luke Costantino, a multisport athlete, is this year's winner. Costantino was a key member of EC's playoff football team and played a huge role in the success of the basketball team. He carried a 4.118 GPA and was recently awarded one of the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame scholarships. "He's one of those kids that turns everything into a positive," said his mother, Anna Flanigan, when asked about the early school closing and the cancellation of the formal graduation ceremony. "Instead of sulking, it was 'What can I do?' He works out. He runs over by the college. He's entrepreneurial so he put a little ad out saying he'd come do yardwork for anyone." "Honestly, it's been horrible," Costantino said. "I never realized how much I appreciate school, my teammates and my teachers. I really missed it." Costantino will continue his schooling at Hillsdale College in Michigan, where he plans on majoring in economics. Eventually, he would like to be an attorney. He'll head to Hillsdale in August. He's biding his time this summer. "He's normally a caddie but he's not sure if he'll be able to do it at the (Elyria) Country Club this year," Flanigan said. "He's kept himself busy with a really positive attitude. He's made the best of a really bad situation." Costantino was extremely active at Elyria Catholic serving as a peer tutor, peer minister, school ambassador and altar server and being involved with Christmas on Campus. And those are only some of the extracurricular activities he was involved in. "He still serves Mass," Flanigan said. "He's an altar server but he hasn't been able to serve the past couple months. But he said to me the other day, 'I really, really miss it.' He wants to do one final Mass before he goes away to college." Costantino was thrilled to win the Rotunda Award. He found out about it Wednesday, just prior to having minor surgery. Last year's winner, Leighton Banjoff, called with the news and congratulated him. "I thought he was just calling to say hello," Costantino said. "I thought he was joking when he told me about the award. I really looked up to him, the way he carried himself on the field. He was a true leader. That was really special to be able to follow him with this award." Costantino didn't think he would win. He thought there were a lot of good senior candidates up for the award. "I couldn't ask for a better class to be a part of," he said. On his application for the award, Costantino impressed the faculty and the judges who make the decision. "Thank you for the best four years of my life," he wrote. "Being an athlete at Elyria Catholic has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. I can summarize being a Panther in five simple words: Excellence, Compassion, Faith, Tradition and Community." EC football coach Brian Fox was thrilled that Costantino won the award. "All-conference, all-county, all-state," he said. "Check, check, check but that's just the tip of the iceberg to what makes him great." Costantino was named third team All-Ohio as a linebacker. He was a first-team pick in the North Coast League and in Lorain County. "If we needed help laying the flooring in the weight room — Luke was there," Fox said. "Need help at the youth camp? Luke was there. Need help moving a family into a woman's shelter? Luke was there with extra seats in his car for people who were unable to drive. "Luke is extremely deserving of this for so many reasons. His maturity, work ethic, leadership and selflessness were second to none. Obviously on the field on Friday nights but what made it special was how he was when it wasn't gametime. Luke was just as intense and fiery each day in practice and in the weight room and could be counted on for anything." EC basketball coach Rob Palmer agreed. "In 25 years of coaching, I've never been around a better teammate than Luke," he said. "He possesses a self-awareness beyond his age and experience that allows him to set an example for everyone. He made everyone better as a result of his selfless commitment to his teammates, giving 100 percent and demanding the same from his teammates. His leadership was genuine because he knew his role wasn't based on points scored or playing time. We were a better team because of Luke but more important — better people." His mother is obviously proud of her son. "He's got a heart as big as the sky," she said. "He gives it 110 percent every time and the energy he brings is pretty amazing. "This award means absolutely the world to him. He's a humble kid. This award means a lot to him." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or at timothygeb@msn.com. Lou Rotunda Award Winners 1960 Jon J. Mitro 1961 Thomas E. Mahl 1962 Gary J. Basinski 1963 Robert F. Monchein 1964 Dennis A. Crozier 1965 James S. Polen 1966 Robert J. Fitzpatrick 1967 William V. Toth 1968 Timothy J. Wagner 1969 Patrick J. Mulholland 1970 Mark A. Straka 1971 Douglas W. Gerber 1972 David C. Weitzel 1973 Paul J. Zemanek 1974 Bruce D. Yeager 1975 William C. Stetson 1976 David J. Diederich 1977 Eric J. Essenmacher 1978 Thomas J. Smelko 1979 Scott L. Miller 1980 John J. Walker 1981 James S. Bainbridge 1982 Chris D. Sito 1983 Daniel Basinski 1984 Brian Wolbers 1985 Alan D. McKinney 1986 Mark A. Kirsch 1987 Jeffrey C. Hoagland 1988 Cory Hodge 1989 Benjamin P. Basinski and Gary L. Hoagland 1990 Adam Reichard 1991 Michael Gandolfo 1992 David McCoy 1993 Joseph V. Desimone 1994 Terrel Dixon and Joel Stuart 1995 Roopen R. Patel 1996 Kevin Fritz 1997 Joseph Conroy 1998 Mike Jonesco 1999 Gerald L. Conroy, Jr. 2000 Kenneth Brown 2001 James Patton IV 2002 Ross Rybarczyk 2003 Michael Clapham 2004 Corey Shepard 2005 John Grega 2006 Jock Taylor 2007 Andrew Kirsch 2008 Joe Fitch 2009 Zachary Poling 2010 Nicholas Ksenich and Spencer Roule 2011 Conor Voreis 2012 Joe Dempsey and Ryan Lutke 2013 Jacob Moore 2014 Jake Hromada 2015 Noah Bland and Zach Sudnick 2016 Jacob Kuchta 2017 Sam Best 2018 Andrew Beck 2019 Leighton Banjoff 2020 Luke Costantino