Excelling either in the classroom or on the athletic playing field is an accomplishment.

To do both is special.

Chilton County High School’s Taylor Hughes and Jalen Osborne were successful enough academically and athletically to be area winners of Bryant-Jordan Award given by the Alabama High School Athletic Association.

“I am and we are and the school is proud of what these guys have done,” CCHS principal Greg DeJarnett said Friday before giving plaques to Hughes and Osborne.

DeJarnett nominated the pair, and they were the winners out of an area that includes CCHS, Carver-Montgomery, Demopolis and Selma high schools.

Hughes also was one of three finalists for the regional award.

The senior has a 4.0 GPA and is his class valedictorian.

“As his father, he’s been a pleasure,” Tony Hughes said. “I’ve never had any trouble.”

Osborne, meanwhile, has had even more to deal with than books and sports. Osborne’s mother, Cammie Austin, was diagnosed with systemic lupus and several other maladies, leaving her in the hospital for 2 1/2 weeks and bedridden for four months.

In the meantime, Osborne was the man of the house for his four younger siblings.

“He has been tremendous,” Austin said. “I’m very proud.”

Osborne, who has a 3.14 GPA, has been accepted to Troy University, where he plans to study sports medicine.

“I just knew I had to do it for us to be a better family,” Osborne said about dealing with his mother’s sickness. “I had to try to do the best I could do and make her proud.”