Hammond senior Mason Castles with Larry Watt, SCISA executive director On Friday, May 15, 2009, Hammond senior Mason Castles received the Bill Simpson Award for a female student- athlete. The award is the highest honor in the state for a student- athlete from the South Carolina Association of Independent Schools (SCISA).

SCISA executive director Larry Watt attended Hammond's varsity Spring awards evening and presented Mason the award in Hammond's Bank of America Theater. SCISA has honored over 1300 scholar- athletes in the 2009- 2010 school year, and the Bill Simpson Award is the highest honor awarded.

Among Mason's many accomplishments, she finishes Hammond with a 5.059 GPA and 1550 SAT score, 13 varsity letters, and has participated in basketball, cross- country, and track and field since the seventh grade. For the past two years, she has been the reigning state champion in the 1600 Meters and state runner up in the 800 Meters.

Mason was named to the North- South team for basketball in 2008- 2009, was named to the all- region team in cross- country and ran on three state champion cross county teams in 2005, 2006, and 2007. She is also on Hammond's FCA Leadership Team and on Hammond's Honor Council, in addition to singing in Select Ensemble.

The Bill Simpson Award is presented annually to a graduating male and female student- athlete in memory of Bill Simpson. Mr. Simpson served the South Carolina Independent School Association for seven years as the athletic secretary. Mr. Simpson, an educator first and foremost, emphasized the importance of academic achievement.