May 29, 2025
Mirror photo by Neil Rudel Blair County Sports HOF scholarship winners this year are Altoona’s Allison Little and Central’s Eli Muthler, seen here with Reliance Bank’s Cory Tubo.
HOLLIDAYSBURG — Two distinguished student-athletes were recognized Wednesday as the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame’s 2025 scholarship recipients.
The presentation, held at The Blairmont Club, recognized Allison Little of Altoona Area High School and Eli Muthler of Central High School. Each was presented with a $3,500 check sponsored by Reliance Bank.
Little is a soccer standout for Altoona, scoring a team-high 23 goals this season and serving as a two-year team captain.
She helped lead Altoona to District 6 championships the last two years and was the team’s most valuable player.
“There are days — the early mornings, late nights and packed schedule — (it) feels like too much,” Little said. “When I’m tired or unmotivated, I think about everyone who has believed in me. I think of my club coaches. I think of my parents, who drove me two hours to Pittsburgh twice a week just for practice and have given me every opportunity I could ever hope for. I think of my teachers, who came in early and stayed late to help me get caught up.”
During the playoffs, Little scored four goals and had five assists as Altoona made its deepest run in the PIAA postseason.
She will be attending Division I Iona University to continue her soccer career and study finance.
Academically, Little has a grade-point average of 98.1, ranks 11th in her graduating class of 497 and scored 1230 on her SATs. She’s been a member of the National Honor Society and has served on the executive committee of the junior and senior classes at Altoona.
Muthler was a football and basketball standout at Central who also lettered twice in baseball and track & field.
As a quarterback, he led Central to the District 6 Class 3A championship as a junior.
In basketball, he sparked the Dragons to their first district title in 30 years, finished as the fourth leading scorer in school history with 1,000-plus points and earned the Altoona Mirror’s 2025 player of the year honors.
In addition, he was named the Mirror’s 2025 athlete of the year on May 19.
Academically, his grade-point average was 4.0, he ranked 12th in a graduating class of 130 and scored an 1130 on his SAT.
“Growing up, I had three of the toughest and most loyal coaches at home — my three brothers, Jacob, Noah and Jesse,” said Muthler, who will be attending Penn State Altoona. “They pushed me harder than anyone, whether it was in the backyard, Grandma’s backyard, the weight room or everyday life, they never let me settle. Even though I didn’t always like it at the time, I know now it came from love and believing in what I could become.”
Reliance Bank, along with a contribution from the Hall of Fame, raised the award from $2,000 to $3,500 this year. Reliance has presented scholarships annually since 1988 and has now awarded a total of $141,000 to deserving student-athletes.
“At Reliance Bank, we are proud to support initiatives that reflect our core values,” said Cory Tubo, Chief Commercial Banking Officer. “We are thankful for the opportunity to invest in our local athletes through the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame program year after year.”
The Hall of Fame will hold its next induction banquet – its 21st — on April 11, 2026 at the Blair County Convention Center.
Inductees and the featured speaker will be announced at a later date.
Copyright © 2025 Central Pennsylvania Newspapers, LLC | https://www.altoonamirror.com | 301 Cayuga Ave., Altoona, PA 16602 | 814-946-7411
