Jupiter’s Volpe receives Beigel-Feis-Hixon Valor Award

Senior runner helped Warriors reach state

The Orange Bowl Committee honored Jupiter senior runner Christopher Volpe with the Beigel-Feis-Hixon Valor Award Scholarship on Monday.

Volpe was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, which is part of autism spectrum disorder, after his freshman year and helped lead the Warriors to the state meet for the first time in 17 years.

“I have learned to adapt to society,” Volpe said in a press release. “I am an extremely high-functioning, social 17-year-old [and] although I am considered to be on the autism spectrum, I do not allow the label of Asperger’s to define who I am.”

The award, named after Scott Beigel, Aaron Feis and Chris Hixon, who lost their lives in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting in 2018, is given to a South Florida student-athlete who “exhibits valor and courage in the face of adversity.” The awardee receives a $10,000 college scholarship.

“The Orange Bowl Committee is proud to announce Christopher Volpe as the second recipient of this significant award, which honors the memory of these courageous and heroic individuals from Stoneman Douglas,” Orange Bowl Committee President and Chair José Romano said in a press release. “Chris’ ability to persevere on a daily basis, while also being a leader as a student-athlete and a classmate, makes him very well deserving of this scholarship.”

Volpe is the captain of the Jupiter cross country team while also running for the track team and playing junior varsity soccer. He finished 146th out of 190 runners at the state meet.

“He ran his best time of the year, on the hardest course of the year,” Jupiter cross country coach Matthew Perry said in a press release. “This just [reinforces] how he will always overcome any challenge put before him.”

Volpe also has a 4.0 grade-point average, has racked up more than 340 community service hours and is the president of Jupiter’s chapter of the National Social Studies Honor Society.

“Growing up with Asperger’s has given me the ability to acclimate better than most people in certain situations, be more patient with others, and to appreciate laughter as a way of navigating through particularly difficult moments,” Volpe said.

—Jupiter coach Matthew Perry on Christopher Volpe