The crack of the bat, crunching of pads, smooth tunes of a saxophone and the scratch of a pencil. 

These are the sounds senior Luke Sharp hears. One moment, he’s on the field, dropping back into coverage. An hour later, he’s dropping his gear for a saxophone. Ten minutes after that, he’s performing a solo in front of hundreds of people. That night, he’s up until 1 a.m doing AP Chemistry homework. That weekend, he’s volunteering with the Young Men’s Service League (YMSL). 

For as long as he can remember, he has loved everything. 

“It’s my personality,” Luke said. “ I love being around people. You can learn a lot of cool things from other people, and if you surround yourself with the right people, it can propel you. I would not be the person I am today without my quartet members, the football [team and] baseball team. Seeing other people work hard motivates me.”

At a young age, Luke took an interest in speed stacking, a game where you race against the clock to stack and unstack cups as fast as possible. Luke said the activity helped spark his competitive nature and his desire to constantly improve in everything he does. (Photo via Annie Sharp)

At the age of 2, Luke sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” on a microphone at his mom’s best friend’s rehearsal dinner. He said it was an example of how outgoing he was, which is in big part due to his mom, Annie Sharp, encouraging him to be well-rounded and do what he enjoys — but he tends to enjoy it all. 

“Growing up, Luke loved to be busy,” Annie said. “He wanted to play every sport and be involved in lots of different things. He’s never been afraid to get up in front of people, and [has] always been a busy kid.”

Luke said he has a mindset to not do anything halfway and is always striving to improve. Which is a big reason Luke said he is involved in so many things. 

“With that mindset, you’re always just trying to further propel yourself and make yourself better,” Luke said. “In my mind, doing a lot of these different things is making myself a better person and [having] a [positive] impact on other people.”

Luke runs out onto the field before the football team’s game against Guyer on Oct. 11. Luke was named as one of three players of the game. (Gavin Lambert)

Luke started his sports journey with soccer when he was 4 years old. He moved onto T-ball and lacrosse, then football in middle school. In high school, Luke plays varsity football as a linebacker and long snapper, and varsity baseball as an infielder.

“[Sports] is a big part of our family,” Annie said. “We go to [football] games. He wanted to be a part of it. He just loves the games, if he had enough hours in a day, he’d be playing some other sports, too. He’d make it work.” 

Luke received the Hawk Hustle Award in baseball last year, an award voted on by his peers. His time with baseball leaves him with moments he said he will never forget, one being in baseball’s final game of the season last year in a district championship-deciding matchup against Flower Mound.

“What made it so special was it fully encapsulated everything,” Luke said. “All the marbles; everyone’s coming together. Everyone has to be held accountable. Recognizing the power of, ‘Oh, we’ve put in all this work all year, and it comes down to this.’”

This year, Luke and his teammate and best friend since kindergarten, Clay Lindmark, are both part of the football team’s leadership council. This impact is one of the reasons Lindmark enjoys having Luke as a teammate, Lindmark said.

“Having someone [during football practice] that I can talk to about almost anything [is great,]” Lindmark said. “It’s nice to have a teammate who has similar interests that you do. It’s great knowing [I] have someone by [my] side.”

Luke also plays golf outside of school and uses sports as a getaway from the stresses he has going on around him. He uses sports as an opportunity to “just go have fun,” and he wants to continue doing sports in the future.

“I love the team aspect of [sports,]” Luke said. “I love being around people. It [means so much more] when you have tons of people putting in the work. You can be as hard on yourself [as you want,] but holding everyone accountable on a team of 11, they all have to be doing the right thing.” 

Luke poses with the Plexus Saxophone Quartet, a quartet he performed with. The quartet performed at the Fischoff Competition at the University of Notre Dame last summer. (Photo via Annie Sharp)

Luke first started playing the saxophone in middle school and fell in love with it. He continued playing during his freshman year of high school, and was named first chair all-region for freshmen while being a part of the marching band show “Penstriped.” 

One moment following a baseball game during his freshman year, Luke performed in the March-A-Thon in Castle Hills. Then immediately left to go play in a fall baseball game, running around between different activities. 

“I remember [his] freshman year [was difficult,]” Annie said. “It was this mad rush to pick him up from [band] and get changed into the [baseball] uniform and go somewhere else. He wanted to do so many things. I just wanted to try to be able to support that.”

During his freshman year playing for the band and the Plexus Saxophone Quartet, Luke received numerous accolades and experiences. 

From sprinting up and down the field and court to performing in front of thousands of spectators and studying for AP Human Geography, Luke stayed busy. Following his freshman year, Luke had to make a tough decision: if he was going to continue doing band. 

“Freshman year was the best year I could have possibly asked for with band,” Luke said. “But it wasn’t possible for me to continue to do everything I wanted to do. So I stopped doing band just because it took up so much time.”

Instead of giving up saxophone altogether, Luke continued playing outside of school with his quartet, who would go on to perform at Lincoln Center in New York City, The University of Texas and the University of Notre Dame.

“[My quartet and I] were preparing for the Fischoff Competition, the biggest competition we had ever done,” Luke said. “We ran into a big time conflict because I had a baseball game on a night when we needed to practice because we had a recording session the next day. Their sacrifice and allowing me to go do those things, is something that I’m [super] appreciative and grateful for.”

At the Fischoff Competition, music groups from around the globe compete. After their recordings were submitted, Luke’s quartet advanced all the way to the final six, where they ended up taking first place and winning the competition.

“[Fischoff is] probably the hardest I’ve ever worked for something,” Luke said. “We would rehearse three hours a week, three or four times a week. We spent 10 or 11 hours together a week for four or five months. But after that challenge and hard work, you get to reap the reward of ‘this thing sounds [amazing.]’ It’s delayed gratification, you realize it was worth it because you get to hear a beautiful end result in music.”

Luke said the biggest struggle is time management, having little-to-no free time between athletics, saxophone and school. Luke tries to manage his time by staying organized with multiple calendars and having a to-do list on his phone. 

“You [have] got to be on top of your stuff; you have to have a plan,” Luke said. “You also have to see the positive in it; it doesn’t have to be ‘I have to go do this.’ Instead [I look at it as] ‘I get to go do this.’” 

In addition to managing his time between athletics and saxophone, Luke will have taken a total of 13 AP classes by the time he graduates; he is ranked in the top 5% of his class. Keeping busy has never been Luke’s issue; relaxing is what he finds difficult.

“I don’t know what to do [with] my life when I don’t have something to do,” Luke said. “Doing [so much] for so long is just instilled in me. I need to be doing something. I don’t know what to do when I’m not.”

Luke and his friend Aaron Martinez, who passed away in 2023, pose together after a band concert in Luke’s freshman year. Luke went immediately from playing in a spring football game to the concert, and performed a solo in the show. (Photo via Annie Sharp)

As important as time management is, Luke’s realization that the support of people who have helped him is what he said he believes is most valuable. Learning to appreciate what those around him have done for him has allowed Luke to realize the significance of his relationships, he said.

“I was very fortunate my freshman year; I had a lot of older kids lead by example,” Luke said. “Hearing what [they] had to say about their experiences [has] allowed me to do things more efficiently and learn a lot from them.”

During his freshman year, some of Luke’s best friends were seniors who gave him advice on how to manage his workload, how to approach difficult classes and study habits, and they included him in their groups.

“[Those role models] inspired me to do it for younger kids,” Luke said. “I’ll help younger kids and stuff in some of their classes, or with my sisters because those older kids said something to me. [They] inspired me to do something to pass that along.”

Luke has two younger sisters, sophomore Kimberley and fifth grader Katlin Sharp. From playing shows with Kimberley on the keyboard and guitar, helping Katlin with her math homework, to consoling his mom when she needed him, Luke has always taken care of those he loves.

“He’s always pushing them to be better, work hard and improve,” Annie said. “He’ll always compliment Katlin and encourage her through affirmation. He’s always pushing [his siblings] to do more, because that’s what he enjoys — helping them out and helping them get better. He tries to instill that desire and drive to work hard and have pride in their work ethic, because he’s always taken pride in his [own].” 

After losing two close friends, JJ Hatcher and Aaron Martinez, in 2023, Luke realized the importance of taking advantage of his opportunities and how much of an impact they had on him. 

“Aaron took me under his wing,” Luke said. “He didn’t have to do that. [Seeing] how he treated his sister and his family, and how wonderful of a dude he was, inspired me to do the same. What he did for me showed me the power of moments and how important a little gesture that somebody does for you [can be.]”

After JJ moved into the same neighborhood as Luke in sixth grade, the two hung out all the time together and eventually played basketball with each other during freshman year.

“It’s sad that he was just taken away like that,” Luke said. “I’m constantly asking myself, ‘Why?’ It made me realize that I’ve been given this opportunity to be alive and to have all these opportunities. I need to take advantage of everything.” 

Lindmark (left) and Luke (right) watch the game from the sidelines together during the team’s game against Guyer on Oct. 11. Both Luke and Lindmark have taken the same amount of AP classes and helped each other deal with the stresses of school. (Gavin Lambert)

Luke’s admiration and appreciation for those around him is what he said has allowed and propelled him to be so successful. His love for connecting with people and learning about everything is what has made his experience so interesting, he added. 

“I don’t know if I wish I would have done more, but I don’t regret it at all,” Luke said. “[My experience] has opened my eyes to a lot of different things. It [has] allowed me to see everything in between the lines and it allows me to give myself those opportunities. I just try my best to capitalize on all those opportunities along the way.”

Luke has achieved multiple awards, but one that stood out to his mother was his receiving of the GRIT award for YMSL. The award is given to a member who exhibits Guts, Resilience, Integrity and Tenacity and is voted on by other mothers in YMSL. 

“It’s not just the accolades, but [also] all the other things he does,” Annie said. “We did the senior mom dance and he came over to me and hugged me and said, ‘The float looks great mom.’ because he knew how much time and effort I had put into it. That made me so happy. It’s always nice to be appreciated, but there’s something about the hug you get as a parent from your kids. I’m just grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to be a mom to him and my girls.” 

Luke looks to continue his broad interests in college, where he has only applied to one school:  The University of Pennsylvania. He said he plans to use the skills he has learned throughout his journey to help him in the field of business, but none of it would be possible without those around him.

“I go back to that idea of how much [everyone] has done for me,” Luke said. “My appreciation and how grateful I am for what they’ve done for me. That’s what makes some of those moments so special. People like Aaron and JJ motivated [me] to get through all of that to see the benefits of working hard and finally seeing it all payoff. ”