April 2, 2005
Columbia, S.C. –
Track & Field/Cross Country athlete Jennifer Lake and basketball player John Chappell have been nominated by the University of South Carolina for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship.
The H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship has been presented by the Southeastern Conference since 1986 to the league’s top male and female scholar-athletes.
The Southeastern Conference will name the 2005 recipients of the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship on April 6 in conjunction with National Student-Athlete Day.
Lake, a senior from Geneseo, Ill., has a 4.00 grade point average, majoring in Mathematics. As a member of the University of South Carolina Honors College, she has made the President’s List (4.00
GPA) in every semester. In 2003 and 2004, she was named USC’s Track &
Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was a member of the 2003-04 ESPN
The Magazine Academic All-America Team for Track & Field as voted by the
College Sports Information Directors of America. She has been the recipient of the McNair Scholar Award, USC’s most prestigious academic
award based on scholastic achievement, leadership and character. She is
a member of the Pi Mu Epsilon National Honorary Mathematics Society and
the Pi Beta Kappa Honor Society.
Lake has been active in community service as part of Carolina’s “Team Gamecocks”, volunteering to read and being a mentor to elementary school students, collecting canned goods for local food drives, spending time at local homeless shelters and helping at area track meets. She is a class peer leader in the University 101 program at Carolina and also serves as a teacher’s assistant.
Athletically, Lake is Carolina’s top runner in the distance events, having qualified for the NCAA Championships in the indoor distance medley relay and the outdoor 5,000 meters. She is the Lady Gamecocks’ record holder in the 3000, 5000 and 6000 meter races and was an All-SEC selection in cross country in 2003.
Chappell is a native of New Berlin, Wisc., and has earned his undergraduate degree in three majors – International Business, Marketing
and Finance. He has earned Dean’s List honors in six semesters and
President’s List mention in Fall 2002. He has made the SEC Academic
Honor Roll in three seasons as well. He spent July, 2004 at a technical
institute in Guadalajara, Mexico studying Spanish. In 2003-04, he was
chosen as an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III selection as
chosen by the CoSIDA.
As part of “Team Gamecocks,” Chappell has been active in the
Columbia, S.C. community, reading to children at local elementary
schools, visiting with foster children, volunteering at local Boys and
Girls Clubs and helping to build homes for “Habitat for Humanity.” He
has also taken time to visit local hospitals and has worked with young
people as part of a Juvenile Court Alternatives Program, speaking to
youth offenders.
On the playing court, Chappell is a four-year letterwinner for
Carolina. He has played has played in 22 games as a senior, starting
six, and serving as a team captain for the Gamecocks. He has helped
lead South Carolina to the championship game of the 2005 National
Invitation Tournament, where it will play St. Joseph’s tonight for the
tournament title. He had four blocked shots against Georgia earlier
this season and had a season high five rebounds against Western
Carolina.
The SEC Office will be releasing each of its institution’s
nominees periodically until the April 6 winners are announced. The
schedule is as follows:
Alabama – Stewart Smith, Swimming & Diving (male) / Katie
French, Soccer (female)
Arkansas – Jason Sandfort, Track & Field (male) / Shiloh
Whiting, Track & Field (female)
Auburn – B.J. Jones, Swimming & Diving (male) / Margaret
Hoelzer, Swimming & Diving (female)
Florida – Justin Zumsteg, Swimming & Diving (male) / Ashley
Kellgren, Soccer (female)
Georgia – Miguel Mendoza, Swimming & Diving (male) / Samantha
Arsenault, Swimming & Diving (female)
Kentucky – Jeff Hamberg, Rifle (male) / Stacy Springer, Golf
(female)
LSU – Jason Determann, Baseball (male) / Chelsea Agar, Soccer
(female)
Ole Miss – Rob Robertson, Football (male) / Lindley Beckman,
Soccer (female)
Miss. State – Luiz Carvalho, Tennis (male) / Jourdan Steinberg,
Track & Field (female)
South Carolina – John Chappell, Basketball (male) / Jennifer
Lake, Track & Field/Cross Country (female)
Tennessee – April 1
Vanderbilt – April 4
National Student-Athlete Day was created in 1987 by the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS) and Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society, and presented by the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
National Student-Athlete Day is held each April 6 to celebrate
outstanding student-athletes who have achieved excellence in academics
and athletics while having made significant contributions to the
community. It is also a time to recognize those parents, teachers,
coaches and school systems which make it possible for young people to
find the balance between academics and athletics.
Each year, the SEC, in conjunction with ALLTEL, an SEC Corporate
Partner, provides the league’s male and female McWhorter Scholar-Athlete
Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients with a $10,000 post-graduate
scholarship. The 22 remaining male and female finalists for the award
will also receive a $5,000 post-graduate scholarship. The award
recipients are chosen by a committee of Faculty Athletics
Representatives from the 12 SEC institutions and are honored at the SEC
Spring Meetings in Sandestin, Fla. on June 2.
Last year’s recipients were Alabama soccer player Lauren Imwalle
and Auburn diver Caesar Garcia.
