On Nov. 21, senior Darby Manternach got a call from her admissions counselor and received the news that she was awarded the Distinguished Trustee Scholarship from Coe College.

The Distinguished Trustee Scholarship is part of the Williston Jones (founder of Coe College) Scholarship Program and is given to people who model Coe’s mission statement and what their school is all about. This scholarship will grant Manternach free tuition all four years she will attend.

“I was super pumped. I literally jumped in the air and screamed. It was during my gym class so I got yelled at for doing that and got told to get off my phone but I was too excited,” Manternach said. “I was super excited because it meant that I could go to Coe because I loved Coe but I wasn’t able to afford their tuition until receiving the scholarship.”

After Manternach applied to Coe, she was automatically made a finalist because of her academics and service work. She then had to go through an interview process of hundreds of people to be able to receive the scholarship.

“I’m looking forward to college,” Manternach said. “I’m ready to graduate and meet new people and just live my life and be independent.”

Outside of majoring in biology, minoring in chemistry and pursuing a specialty minor in neuroscience, Manternach will also be swimming for the Coe Women’s Swimming and Diving team.

“I’m scared because it’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of time but I feel that I have good time management skills and will be able to handle it,” Manternach said, “and from what I’ve seen, it’s a great group of girls on the team and I feel like it will be a fun experience.”

Manternach was dared by a couple of friends to go out for swimming in eighth grade. 

“I got recruited from Coe. Our new high school coach Ivan Sanchez is Coe’s assistant coach and so he was able to get a look at our team but before he became our coach. I received a ton of letters from Coe through our old swim coach, John Ross,” Manternach said, “so I was recruited by them but didn’t look into it too much until Ivan started annoying me about it so I told him I would go on a visit.”

Currently Manternach is swimming with Linn-Mar High School’s club team.

“They have a good coaching staff and I’m planning on continuing that up until August of 2018 when Coe’s season begins,” Manternach said.

After her four years at Coe, Manternach plans on applying to medical school and pursuing her dream of being a nuerosurgeon.

“I’m super excited for the season to start and I can’t wait to meet my future teammates,” Manternach said.