Blair High School senior Kip Tupa is the 2021 Building Omaha Thursday Night Lights Scholar Athlete of the Year.
The Bear competes in football, basketball and soccer, and recently claimed Academic All-Eastern Midlands Conference honors to go with his Academic All-State standing. He finished this past fall's football season with 20 catches for 277 yards and 58 total tackles despite missing three games with an injury.
Tupa's team appeared in two Thursday Night Lights games this past season on KPTM/KXVO television. Fox 42 reporter Paul Gutierrez was at BHS last Wednesday, shooting segments with Tupa, coach Bryan Soukup and Tupa's parents — Mike and Heather. The report was to hit the air during Thanksgiving night's News at Nine broadcast.
Building Omaha's Barry Mayfield was also featured in the video segments. The business manager represented the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) during the shoot. Both groups — working collectively as Building Omaha — sponsored the award and provided the $3,000 scholarship prize alongside KPTM/KXVO.
Tupa is currently a member of the BHS basketball team and is narrowing his college decision down to three schools.
