HARLAN, KY – UVA Wise women's basketball sophomore Ella Karst recently added to her already impressive list of accomplishments when she was inducted into the Harlan County Schools Frank Brittain Academic and Athletic Hall of Fame.

Karst recently completed her freshman season at UVA Wise by being named to the South Atlantic Conference All-Freshman Team. She averaged 11.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists a game last season. She also had several big plays, including a game-winning buzzer-beater over Emory & Henry. She will be the top returning scorer for the 2025-26 season.

She came to Wise following a stellar career at Harlan County High School, where she ended her career as the HCHS's second-highest scorer and also was the second-highest scorer in county history behind Harlan High School (and Tennessee Tech) standout Jordan Brock. She scored a total of 2,828 points and pulled down 582 rebounds from 2018-24.

She was named First Team All-13^th Region twice and was named the 13^th Region Player of the Year in 2023-24. She was a finalist for Miss Kentucky Basketball that same season. Karst also was named to the regional All-Tournament Team three times and was on the 52^nd District All-Tournament Team five times.

Karst also competed on the HCHS track and field team, where she was a four-time 2A Region champion winning all of her events and was a team champion. During her career she broke four school records, including as an individual in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash. As a team event she broke the 4 x 100 meter relay and the 4 x 200 meter relay record. She competed as a four-time KHSAA track and field championship qualifier and earned all-state academic honors.

She was a member of the Beta Club, National Honor Society, Gifted and Talented, Spanish Honor Society, Den Keepers, yearbook staff and represented HCHS as the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Princess candidate.

The Hall of Fame honors former student-athletes from all the former and current schools in the county and was named for Frank Brittain, who worked for 64 years in the school district as a teacher, principal and maintenance/facilities director. It has strict admission criteria to maintain high academic, extra-curricular and athletic standards.

The hall's governing committee consists of post-secondary educators, retired teachers and professionals, and representatives from various business and civic organizations.

Karst joins former HCHS and current University of Kentucky men's player Trent Noah in being inducted. Other inductees include the 2023-24 HCHS girls cross country and boys basketball teams, both of whom finished runner-up in the state.

The UVA Wise women's basketball team will return to Wise in August for the start of classes and will soon afterward begin preparations for the 2025-26 campaign. They will open the season in the SAC vs. Peach Belt Conference Challenge November 14-15 in Bluffton, South Carolina.

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