Jeannelle Scheper Named SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year
June 2, 2015
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Southeastern Conference announced its 2015 Outdoor Track and Field Awards Tuesday, and South Carolina senior Jeannelle Scheper was named the SEC’s female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as voted by the league’s coaches. Scheper becomes the first woman from South Carolina to earn the honor since 2007, and third-ever in program history.
Past winners of the award from Carolina include Natasha Hastings (2007) and Marvin Reitze (2012).
Scheper is a double major in mathematics and economics and plans to enroll in the master’s program for economics at South Carolina. Her academic honors rival her athletic honors, as the St. Lucia native has been on either the President’s, Dean’s or Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for every single semester of her college career. Last Spring, she earned the South Carolina President’s Award in recognition for all she has accomplished as a student-athlete.
On the field, Scheper is the national leader in the high jump, with a top mark of six feet, five inches that also is the top mark in the world. She set that top mark en route to the gold medal at the SEC Championships, where she went without a miss until her three attempts at the American record of two meters. The mark of 6-5 is the sixth-best in collegiate history and extends her school record. She was a three-time SEC Field Athlete of the Week this season and also earned USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week.
Next up for her will be one last shot at a national championship as she travels to Eugene Ore. for the NCAA championships. She is already a two-time national runner-up in the high jump for the indoor season and earned All-America status for outdoors in 2012 and 2013 before sitting out the 2014 season.
Men’s Runner of the Year: Deon Lendore, Texas A&M
Men’s Field Athlete of the Year: Marquis Dendy, Florida
Men’s Co-Freshman Runner of the Year: Kenzo Cotton, Arkansas
Men’s Co-Freshman Runner of the Year: Christian Coleman, Tennessee
Men’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Ioannis Kyriazis, Texas A&M
Women’s Runner of the Year: Dominique Scott, Arkansas
Women’s Field Athlete of the Year: Erica Bougard, Mississippi State
Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Brooke Feldmeier, Ole Miss
Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Keturah Orji, Georgia
Men’s Coach of the Year: Mike Holloway, Florida
Women’s Coach of the Year: Lance Harter, Arkansas
Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Nathanael Franks, Arkansas
Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Jeannelle Scheper, South Carolina
