Strom Thurmond’s Leigh Anne Strock honored with Scholar Athlete award

JOHNSTON, SC (WJBF)- This week’s scholar athlete is Leigh Anne Strock from Strom Thurmond High School.

She is a dual sport athlete who plays volleyball and softball and has had tremendous success in both of those sports. Over the years, she has won the golden glove award, joined the 1000 OPS club and was all state in all-region in softball and volleyball in school.

She also thrives in being HOSA vice president. She’s also a part of beta club and the national society of high school scholars, and for that, her family is just proud of what she has accomplished on and off the field.

“We’re very proud. She’s definitely put a lot of time and effort into, her athletics and both her schoolwork, too. She’s came a long way and grown up on us, “said her mother Kiem Strock.

But as an athlete, injuries happen and everything doesn’t go as planned. For her, it was just different. But she learned a valuable lesson.

“it’s definitely different, I had my surgery last October, so I was big in the softball then. I was hoping to play college softball. Then I had my surgery so, I took some time off, and I kind of learned that life isn’t all about sports. So, I picked up volleyball,” Strock said.

That lesson helped her to become more than just an athlete.

‘She is a team player, and she will do anything that we need her to. When she was out with her shoulder at her shoulder surgery, she became an assistant coach,” said her volleyball coach Heather Webb.

“We ran a lot by her from a player perspective and from a coach perspective, and it was nice to have somebody else, you know, kind of to bounce off of me.”

She will be attending Clemson University to study animal and veterinary science.Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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