Make wishtv.com your home page

Tommy McDonald of Ben Davis named Athlete of the Month

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Football state champ, shot put star, and class valedictorian. It may sound like rocket science to some, but for Tommy McDonald, it’s just another day in the life.

“Football and track, well, football mostly has taught me discipline and certain life lessons you wouldn’t learn in the classroom by yourself,” McDonald said. “So I’ve taken that to the classroom and gotten all my work done. It’s led me here.”

The Ben Davis senior has not only experienced success on the field this year, but also in the classroom. His 5.12 GPA earned him a special accolade from WISH-TV and IBEW Local 481: Athlete of the Month.

“Indescribable how proud we are of this kid and everything he’s accomplished this year. He gets determined, sets his sights on a goal, and up to this point, everything he’s wanted to try and achieve, he has,” said Jeff McDonald, Tommy’s father.

“His leadership is fantastic by example. You look at the way he does things. That’s how you want everybody to do those things,” said Mike Davidson, Ben Davis track and field coach.

Tommy heads up to West Lafayette and Purdue in the fall to study engineering. Then after that?

“Maybe work with NASA? Maybe? Or SpaceX? I don’t know, it’s a broad reach. Maybe something like that,” said Tommy.

It sounds like a broad reach for most, but if athletics have taught Tommy something, it’s that anything is possible.