Student News
Athletes Score Academically
McWhorter Scholarship
Softball player McKenna Hughes and soccer player Ryan Leeton, both senior accounting majors at the Moore School of Business, were recently recognized for their achievements on and off the field by their nomination by USC for the Southeastern Conference’s H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship. While McKenna and Leeton did not place first for the McWhorter Scholarship (announced April 6), as finalists, they will each receive a $5,000 post-graduate scholarship.
Hughes, from Lexington, South Carolina, has a 3.68 grade point average and is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll (2006-07 SEC Honor Roll not yet announced). She earned USC Athletics Director’s Honor Roll three times and has been a continual member of the President’s List and the Dean’s List. Her community service includes volunteering at the Harvest Hope Food Bank since 2003 and participating in an after-school reading program at Lake Murray Elementary School. She has also volunteered in Homeworks, working to rebuild and repair damaged homes.
The USC athletic department Web site describes her athletic achievements: “A four-year starter, she has played every position for Carolina except pitcher. Hughes has led the Gamecocks in doubles and home runs for three straight seasons and in RBI for four seasons. She was a member of the 2004 NCAA Region All-Tournament Team. She has played in 198 career games, starting in 194. She is South Carolina’s all-time career home run leader and is two shy of becoming USC’s all-time single-season home run leader.”
Leeton, from Midland, Texas, has a 3.47 grade point average, is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, and earned the Dean’s List in 2004. He was named to the first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III and earned the highest grade point average on the USC soccer team as a junior in 2006. According to the USC athletic department Web site: “He has been captain of Carolina’s soccer team the last two seasons and was a first-team all-conference performer in 2006. He was also Top Drawer Soccer’s Weekly National Team last season. He was also third-team all-conference in 2005.”
He has volunteered at Palmetto Children’s Hospital and at the annual “Kid’s Kicking for Cancer” Child and Parent Soccer Clinic. He has also volunteered at a Columbia soup kitchen, serving the less privileged.
Others Honored
Thomas Hilliard, a USC Men’s Track & Field athlete and an accounting major with a GPA of 3.544, received the SEC Community Service Postgraduate Scholarship at USC’s All Sports Banquet held in late April. Hilliard is a two-time All-American, placed sixth in 60m hurdles at the NCAA Indoors, was a member of the third-place 4X400 relay team at NCAA Indoors, and has finished in the top five in each of the six outdoor meets he has competed in so far this season, including two first-place finishes.
Hilliard volunteers for Harvest Hope, youth track programs, and EdVenture Children’s Museum in Columbia. His hometown is Raleigh, North Carolina.
Jenna Pearson, of Women’s Golf and a business economics major with a 3.792 GPA, received the Female Scholar Athlete of the Year Award. Pearson ranks among the top 50 collegiate players nationally. She broke a school record by firing a 66 in the second round of the SEC Tournament and knocked in a hole-in-one at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic.
Pearson has been on the Dean’s List four semesters and the President’s List two semesters. Her hometown is Wheaton, Illinois.
Congratulations to these outstanding scholar-athletes.
Gail Crouch
April 2007