Ben Wade says no sport came as naturally to him as running.

"I tried out a bunch of different sports, wasn't really good at a ton of them, so when I tried track in sixth grade, I sort of realized I can keep doing this, I'm pretty good at this," said Ben Wade, a senior at the Bronx High School of Science.

Wade says it's in his veins.

His mother was a marathon runner, and watching her hit the pavement while growing up inspired him to do the same.

"It was something that she always did. She always had her rituals. She would always do her Sunday long run," said Wade.

Wade joined the cross country, indoor, and outdoor track teams as a freshman. He quickly became one of the strongest athletes on each of those squads. He was named M.V.P. of his cross country team as a sophomore. As a senior, Wade was part of the winning 4x800 relay team at the city's indoor and outdoor track and field championships.

"He helped to build a culture of winning here, and in the years right behind him, and in every single year since then, our freshman and sophomore teams have gone very deep into the postseason, with multiple city qualifiers and even state qualifiers," said Mike Mei, the boy’s track coach.

Wade is as dedicated to his studies as he is to running. He has a 95 grade point average, even though he's taken a dozen difficult advanced placement courses.

Teachers say his positive attitude is what contributes most to his success.

"He's really happy to be doing what he's doing at any given time, and I think that's what makes him able to see all of his responsibilities through," said Katherine DiMaggio, a school counselor.

Wade even finds time to give back. He volunteers at a local soup kitchen on weekends, and he's part of the school's "Big Sibs" program, mentoring freshmen as they take on their first year of high school.

"As a freshman, I had a pretty difficult time adjusting to everything, not in terms of workload, but socially, I guess, so as a big sib, I want to help others who may be in the same place," said Wade.

Wade starts a new chapter in the fall at Swarthmore College. He says he's ready for the challenge, and excited to join the school's track team.

So, for keeping on the track to success, Ben Wade is our Scholar Athlete of the Week.