Iyana Wilson and Marlen Ortiz of Durant High School have been selected as the Shamrock Bank Impact Athlete and Performing Arts Students of the month for January 2024.
Wilson is the first freshman to be selected as the Impact Athlete of the Month.
Just 5’5, the diminutive point guard serves as the playmaker for the Lady Lions varsity basketball team. Adept at running the Durant offense, Iyana
averages six points, four assists and two steals a game. She has scored in double figures four times this season including a career-high 16 in Durant’s win over Chickasha for third place at the Bridge Creek tournament.
“I love coaching Iyana,” DHS girls basketball coach Will Robinson said.” She has a chance to be one of the best point guards that’s come out of Durant. She loves the game and is a quick learner. Her future is bright.”
Once the basketball season has been completed, Wilson plans on running track and participating in the 4 x 4 relays and 100-meter hurdles.
Basketball and the support of Iyana’s mother, Chanteleese, have been a constant ever since she picked up a basketball and started playing at the age of five. “Mom is my number one fan, ” Iyana said. Wilson has played for several basketball clubs over the years including the Lady Temps, Lady Sparks and the Legacy. It appears she has made the transition to high school without a hitch . The honor role student has recorded a 3.86 grade point average in her first year.
Her plans for the future definitely include staying connected with basketball. First, she plans to go college and is putting on a full court press for a basketball scholarship at one of her favorite schools “South Carolina, UConn or Texas.”
If college ball isn’t an option, coaching hoops is the plan. However, her ultimate goal remains to make all the way to the top of the basketball world. “From the day I was born, my dream has been to play in the WNBA,” she declared.
Joining Chanteleese in Iyana’s corner are family friend Lacie Finley and her brother, J K Wilson.
Marlen Ortiz, a senior, is a member of “The Pride of Durant” band and participates in DHS choir and musical theatre.
In band, since sixth grade, Marlen plays the trumpet in “The Pride…” and in the symphonic band.
Highly decorated in choir, she has been named all-district three times and has received a superior rating at state the past two years for her solo performances.
Ortiz is also heavily involved in theater. Her credits include the DHS productions of “Beauty and the Beast”, Tarzan and “Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella”.
Outside of school, Marlen is a member of the First Baptist Church in Durant. She went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic last summer and is planning a similar excursion to Colombia later this year. She also holds down a job at Bond Laundry Company
Her future includes attending Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant where she will pursue a nursing degree and continue in choir.
Marlen’s mother and father are Fabiola and Herminio Perez. She has two siblings, sister Camila and brother, Iker Perez.
Congratulations to Iyana Wilson and Marlen Ortiz the Shamrock Bank Impact Athlete and Performing Arts Students of the Month for January 2024.
