April 23, 2015
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Gamecock men’s diver Cole Miller and track athlete Erika Rucker have been nominated as South Carolina’s nominees for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship, the league announced Thursday. The award, which provides for graduate school opportunities, is in its 29th year and will ultimately be given to the top male and female scholar-athletes in the SEC.
Miller is an Exercise Science major, who will graduate next month. Boasting a cumulative GPA of 3.868, he has been on the President’s List for posting a 4.0 GPA twice in his career. In his time with the Gamecocks, he has accumulated 68.5 hours of community service. After graduation, he plans to return home to Regina, Saskatchewan to earn his Master of Physical Therapy at the University of Saskatchewan.
In the pool, Cole advanced to the finals and earned All-America honors in 1-meter (14th), 3-meter (12th) and platform (15th) diving at the 2015 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. He became the first men’s diver in school history to accomplish that feat, and it came on the heels of finishing in the top eight in all three diving events at the SEC Championships. For his career, Miller earned 21 individual first-place finishes and graduates with three school records.
Erika Rucker is a nursing major who has been on the President’s List (4.0 GPA) for four semesters and on the Dean’s List (3.5 GPA or higher) for two other semesters. Along with her school recognitions, she made the SEC’s Academic Honor Roll every year. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association also named her an All-Academic honoree.
On the track, Erika is a team captain and six-time All-American, earning the distinction four times in the 400-meter dash and twice in the 4×400-meter relay. The Flowery Branch, Ga. native owns four different top-10 times in program history (400m indoor and outdoor, 800m outdoor and 4x800m relay).
She was an All-Southeastern Conference honoree in 2013 and was named the Freshman of the Year for the 2012 indoor season. Her accomplishments are not limited to just the national level, as she is also a two-time International Association of Athletics Federations World Junior Championships medalist (2012 – 400m Bronze, 4x400m Gold).
In the community, Erika has volunteered with the Special Olympics, Ronald McDonald House, Relay for Life, Operation Paint Brush and Carolina Children’s Home, among many others, in her time with the team.
The Southeastern Conference will name the 2015 recipients of the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship on April 30.
