Cara Buchanan, a senior volleyball and softball player at The Meadows, has been named a finalist for the Wendy's High School Heisman, which honors prep athletes for their efforts on the playing field as well as in academics and community service. Buchanan will receive an expense-paid trip to New York City for the Heisman ceremonies Dec. 8 to 10. Photo by Clint Karlsen. Senior Cara Buchanan ranks in the top 3 percent of her class at The Meadows, a prestigious private school. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

Cara Buchanan doesn't juggle, but that's about the only thing the senior at The Meadows doesn't do.

And even a world-class juggler would have a hard time keeping more objects in the air than Buchanan.

Buchanan plays volleyball and softball for the Mustangs, is a black belt in tae kwon do, plays tennis for fun, is involved in just about every club at school and spends her "free time" volunteering here and abroad.

The constant activity came naturally to Buchanan, who watched her older sister, Sarah, perform a similar balancing act in high school.

"I've always kind of followed in the footsteps of my sister," Buchanan said. "She was a lot like me, juggling things. I saw her able to do it, so I kind of pushed myself to be able to do it. Because I loved the balance of the three. I love athletics, and community service is really important to me, and in academics I've always been strong."

Buchanan's overall efforts have earned her notice, not just at The Meadows but nationally. On Monday, Buchanan was named a finalist for the Wendy's High School Heisman award, which honors high school athletes for their efforts on the field as well as in academics and community service.

Buchanan said Monday's announcement came as a shock. She had received an e-mail saying that she was the female winner for Nevada, but she still didn't suspect anything as Monday's assembly started.

Even after she saw free Wendy's Frosty desserts being handed out, Buchanan had no idea she was about to be named one of the six female finalists.

"That was surreal," Buchanan said. "When they had the assembly and they passed out free Frostys, I didn't put two and two together. Then I thought they were just going to give me a certificate and congratulate me and then I'd sit back down, but it ended up being a lot more than that."

As a national finalist, Buchanan receives an expense-paid trip to New York City from Dec. 8 to 10 for the Heisman weekend ceremonies. She will receive a gold medal from two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin on Dec. 8. The national winners will be announced that night, and there also will be a $1,000 donation to The Meadows.

Buchanan is exactly the kind of athlete the Heisman program is designed for, as she has distinguished herself athletically, in the classroom and by serving the community.

She ranks in the top 3 percent of her class at the prestigious private school in the northwest part of the valley.

"The classes here are really difficult," Buchanan said. "This year, I'm taking six APs. But it's always been worth it to take the harder classes. And I've been able to balance it."

Mustangs athletic director Rock Pillsbury said an athlete also excelling in the classroom is not unusual at The Meadows.

"They try hard in both the classroom and on any field or court or whatever they're on," Pillsbury said. "She's not the exception, she's the rule."

Athletically, Buchanan earned all-league and all-state honors as an outside hitter in volleyball. In tae kwon do, she earned a bronze medal at the Junior Olympics following her sophomore year and was a double gold medalist at the state competition last year.

She played softball for the Mustangs for the first time in the spring.

"I was a right fielder, and it was interesting," Buchanan said. "We actually didn't win a single game. But I don't know, I had the spring off, kind of. Club volleyball ended, so I had an extra season, so I figured I would just try it just because it was something to do. And I ended up really liking it."

Buchanan said volleyball is her first love athletically.

"Volleyball is my favorite overall sport," Buchanan said. "It's a team sport. Tae kwon do is very individual. And while it's probably the best exercise of the three, volleyball is fun when you have a team and you play for your school."

Buchanan really separates herself with her community service activities.

She began working with the Medic One First Responder Club in eighth grade, taking CPR training and later becoming a CPR instructor.

After an intensive 40-hour course, Buchanan now can do a ride-along with a paramedic, and she has been part of the medical staff at bike races in San Diego.

She founded the Adopt-A-School program at The Meadows, where students help teachers at Hollingsworth Elementary with an after-school tutoring program.

"The teachers put together an afternoon tutoring program and we just sit down with the kids and read, a lot of times we play chess with them or sports, some of them want to learn how to dance," Buchanan said. "It's kind of like we're there for them in whatever they want to do for the day."

This past summer, Buchanan and her mother volunteered for two weeks at a day care center in Ecuador, where Buchanan was able to put her 13 years of Spanish training to use.

"I was the only volunteer there that was bilingual," Buchanan said. "I could really get through to the volunteers what exactly they needed to help with, and a couple times the teacher let me teach lessons for the day."

Her love for medicine and working with children may lead to a future in pediatrics, and her Spanish language background has her talking about international health as a possible future.

And while there's little doubt Buchanan will be successful in the future, Pillsbury said the senior already has made her mark.

"She'll be a role model for a bunch of girls in fourth, fifth and sixth grade that they can do that, too," Pillsbury said. "You can be a good student and play sports."