Ansbach’s Meredith Maxwell stretches for a ball during a match against Kaiserslautern’s Abby Hover on Sept. 23, 2023, at Kaiserslautern High School in Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Meredith Maxwell is accustomed to being a trailblazer for her school.

The Ansbach senior played her freshman tennis season by herself, but three years later, the Cougars had a full roster of six boys and six girls and were able to host a tennis match.

On Sunday, though, Maxwell went a step further and became a pioneer for all of DODEA-Europe.

She was one of 20 Class of 2025 athletes to receive a scholarship from the Foot Locker Scholar Athletes Program worth $20,000 over four years. Started in 2011, the program honors athletes who embody leadership, sportsmanship and community impact.

“I’m completely excited,” Maxwell said of winning the award. “I’m so happy and thrilled that I won a national award and to be the first person (in DODEA) to do it.

“Hopefully, many people out there, not just at my base, will realize that this is an opportunity for them.”

Maxwell filled out her resume on and off the tennis courts of Europe.

She was Ansbach’s valedictorian and a six-time academic All-Europe selection. She also was co-president of the National Honor Society chapter and vice president of the school’s student government.

Other awards include a two-time national finalist in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Voice of Democracy competition and a national finalist for Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award, the first DODEA student to do so.

Those accomplishments bolstered her sporting resume, which included helping resurrect the Ansbach tennis program. Maxwell holds the school records in No. 1 singles victories (34) and both singles and doubles wins (45).

The Ansbach ace qualified for Euros all four years, making the semifinals once.

Ansbach's Meredith Maxwell serves during pool-play action against Ramstein's Emma Singletary during the DODEA European tennis championships on Oct. 20, 2023, at T2 Sports Health Club in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Maxwell highlighted the Ansbach tennis story in her essay. That helped her advance to the semifinals stage, where she completed an interview.

The scholarship will help Maxwell at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, where she will study biochemistry and molecular biology on a pre-dental track.

Maxwell also will be playing for the women’s tennis team, an NCAA Division III program.

After starting her high school journey on her own with the help of her parents, Marc and Christine, Meredith Maxwell said she can’t wait for her collegiate career to begin under the opposite circumstances with the Rams.

It will be the first time she’ll be playing with an established team and a professional coach, she said.

“I’m very excited to see how I’ll grow as a player and with the team there at the college,” Maxwell said.