April 2, 2008

COLUMBIA – The University of South Carolina has nominated golfers Mark Anderson and Whitney Simons for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship, presented by the Southeastern Conference since 1986 to the league’s top male and female scholar-athletes. The SEC will name the 2008 recipients of the award on April 6 in conjunction with National Student-Athlete Day.

Anderson, a senior business major from Beaufort, S.C., is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and has earned Dean’s List honors six times. On the golf course, he earned first-team All-SEC and third-team All-America honors in 2005, a season in which he also was named to the GCAA PING All-Freshman team and SEC Freshman of the Year. He won the 2005 Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational and finished second at the Southern Highlands Intercollegiate, falling in a playoff after tying for first after regulation play. Anderson was named to the 2007 SEC Men’s Golf Community Service Team, volunteering at Edventure Children’s Museum and Logan Elementary School. He also spent time helping at Harvest Hope Food Bank and local junior golf clinics.

Simons, a senior international business and finance major from Aiken, S.D., is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, has earned President’s List honor five times and Dean’s List twice. She was named NGCA All-America Scholar three times and was the 2006 SEC Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She is a member of the Golden Key International Society, the Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honor Fraternity and the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society. Simons is a four-year letterwinner for the Gamecocks and is serving as a team co-captain this year. She has been an active member of the University’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, having served as its history vice-president and its current president. She has volunteered with the Harvest Hope Food Bank, Epworth Children’s Home, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and First Tee Golf Clinics. She is also a member of the USC Academic Building Committee.

Each year, the SEC, in conjunction with AT&T, an SEC Corporate Champion sponsor, provides the league’s male and female McWorther Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients with a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship. The 22 remaining male and female finalists for the award receive at $5000 post-graduate scholarship. The award recipients are chosen by a committee of Faculty Athletic Representatives from the 12 SEC institutions and will be honored at the SEC Spring Meetings in Sandestin, Fla., on May 29.