TWIN POWER: Twin sisters land in Top 10 at G-C for second year in a row

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GREENFIELD — A set of twins have placed in consecutive spots within the top 10 graduates at Greenfield-Central High School after another set of twins claimed the top two spots last year.

Elayna and Elyse Allender finished out the school year with grade point averages of 4.376 and 4.339, respectively, landing them in the third and fourth spots.

Last year, identical twins Kennedy and Kambell Trapp graduated at the top of their class at the school, with Kennedy finishing as valedictorian and Kambell as salutatorian. As such, both girls gave speeches at commencement.

All four girls have said their twin sister is their best friend.

The Trapps just completed their freshman year as roommates at Purdue University, where they’re both studying biomedical engineering.

The Allender twins, however, are forging separate paths after high school — attending colleges two hours apart.

Elayna will head to Purdue University to study mechanical engineering while Elyse will head to Taylor University to study elementary education. Their older brother, Evan, 21, also graduated in the top 10 of his class at Greenfield-Central and now attends Purdue.

While the girls have a little trepidation about leaving each other’s sides after 18 years together, they’re looking forward to seeing what this new chapter of life brings.

“I’m not too excited about (separating); I would prefer to go to the same school. But our majors split us up and took us in different directions,” said Elayna.

Their parents, Jeff and Deedee Allender, have always supported their children’s academic pursuits, she said.

When the kids were growing up in Morristown, the parents started driving them to Greenfield-Central schools when the girls were in fifth grade for the greater academic opportunities a larger school might provide.

While they’ve always excelled in school, Elayna said she and her sister haven’t necessarily been all that competitive.

“We’ve just kind of both tried hard, but we don’t really compare ourselves that much,” she said.

Instead, the sisters are typically each other’s biggest fans.

They’ve been in some of the same clubs throughout high school — like National Honor Society and the service-based Key Club — but have pursued different interests, too.

Elayna was a cheerleader her first three years of high school but switched to the tennis team her senior year. Elyse played the clarinet and cymbals for the marching band throughout high school and was drum major her senior year.

While the girls are not thrilled about going their separate ways this fall, “we’re definitely going to make efforts to reach out to each other and spend time together outside of work and school,” said Elyse.