By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer

VILLA HILLS - A Dixie Heights High School senior and honor roll student will have a little help paying her college tuition.

Eighteen-year-old Lyndsey Mayberry of Villa Hills was the Kentucky Lottery Corp.'s sole $100,000 winner in the Dec. 11 Powerball drawing.

Lyndsey Mayberry

After buying a 2000 Toyota Sienna van for her mother, Shelley, and a 2000 Kia Sportage sport utility vehicle for her older sister, Lauren, Lyndsey is keeping the rest of her winnings, said her father, Michael.

"She's going to use most of it for college,'' Mr. Mayberry said. He added his daughter, a member of last year's state All-Star softball team, has been recruited by several colleges.

"It was pretty neat to have someone that young win and to put the money toward a good use like she's doing,'' said Jennifer Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Lottery Corp.

The morning after the drawing, Mr. Mayberry asked the clerk at the Ameristop in Crescent Springs to scan $11 worth of lottery tickets that he and his daughter had purchased, when he stopped by for his regular cup of coffee.

"There was nothing on my ticket, but when he got to Lyndsey's ticket, the clerk said, `This ticket may have won,' '' Mr. Mayberry said. "He kept scanning it and scanning it, and it kept saying that the prize exceeded the amount he could pay out.''

The clerk initially told Mr. Mayberry that the ticket was worth $5,000.

"But 10 minutes after I got to work, he called me and said, `I made a mistake,' " Mr. Mayberry said. "He said, `You didn't win $5,000. You won $100,000.' ''

Lyndsey, who works part time at Florence Mall, bought her ticket at the Speedway on US 42 in Florence when she stopped for gas on her way home.

E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com