After an exciting run this year, Liberty senior and football star Jake Wright was voted as Male Athlete of the Year for the Renton Reporter.

This is the first year doing these awards, something Wright said he is very proud of.

“This will be in my dorm,” Wright said of his award plaque.

Wright plans to play football for Washington State University (WSU) next fall.

When Wright saw the text from the coach he won, he said he was shocked, after seeing the stacked list of candidates for the title.

Wright has been playing football since third grade, and was a player at Liberty High School all four years.

He said in that time he started more and more to take on a leadership role on the football team, and help show newer players the way. He said he believes being a leader means to be vocal, to lead by example and to have a good relationship with the coaches.

Being a team leader also means kind of being a coach on the field, he said.

This year, Wright said he could tell this was a team they could work with. The turning point for them was a win against Bellevue’s esteemed high school football team.

“That pushed the regular season, and pushed us to the semi-finals,” Wright said.

The team then lost to the state champions, but it was still a successful year. The graduating 2019 football players were the most-winning team in the high school’s history, he said.

Wright is a safety on the football team, a position he will continue next year at WSU.

Wright’s message to other student athletes is to give it their all, and participate as much as you can.

“You need to want it more than other people,” he said.

He also thanks his coaches for making him a better player and a better man, his family for support and his team for teaching him skills he’ll carry on after graduation.

The first ever Male Athlete of the Year for the Renton Reporter went to Jake Wright, left. He was awarded a plaque by Renton Reporter editor Danielle Chastaine (right). Photo by Haley Ausbun