March 25, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 25 – Swimmer Eric McGinnis and volleyball player Sarah Rumely have been nominated by the University of Kentucky 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 2010 recipients of the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship on April 6 in conjunction with National Student-Athlete Day.
McGinnis, a native of Raleigh, N.C., has a 3.52 grade point average, majoring in Exercise Science. He is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll (2010 Winter Honor Roll announced later this spring) and has made the Dean’s List and Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.
He has earned honorable mention All-America status four times, with his best finish placing ninth in the 200-yard freestyle relay at the 2009 NCAA Championships. He has had six top eight finishes at the SEC Championships, with his best finish placing third in the 50 freestyle in 2010.
McGinnis is the Kentucky record holder in the 100-yard freestyle and the second all-time performer in the 50 freestyle. He was also named the MVP of the Wildcat swim team in 2009. He was part of the gold medal winning U.S. 400-meter freestyle relay team at the 2009 World University Games.
He is active in community service, volunteering for Special Olympics for seven years, including four in his hometown of Raleigh, N.C. and three in Lexington. He has visited with children at the Pediatric Cancer Survivor’s Picnic and spoken to kids at the UK Swim Camp. For the past three years, he has ran in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.
Rumely, a native of New Palestine, Ind., has a 3.63 grade point average, majoring in Exercise Science. She has earned UK Academic Honor Roll status in every semester, Dean’s List four times and is a four-time member of the All-SEC Academic team. She earned ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America second-team in 2009 and earned first-team all-district honors in 2008-09.
A four-year starter and two-year captain, Rumely was named the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2006 and was the SEC Player of the Year in 2008. She was an American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America second team member in 2009 and an honorable mention selection in 2008. She finished her career as the UK career record holder in assists and aces.
She earned first-team All-SEC honors in both her junior and senior seasons and has been a three-time SEC Volleyball Player of the Week honoree. She was named the UK Catspy Female Player of the Year in 2009 and Rookie of the Year in 2006.
She has been active in community service, tutoring and mentoring children at the 7 th Street Community Center, organizing and running meetings for Athletes in Action and has been a member of UK’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the last two years.
She has served food at the Lighthouse Ministry, helped build houses for Habitat for Humanity and helped collect food for the SEC “Together We Can” canned food drive.
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 – Saketh Myneni, tennis (male) / Kassi Price, gymnastics (female)
- Arkansas – Thomas Hauskey, baseball (male) / Katie Stripling, track & field (female)
- Auburn – Jordan Anderson, swimming (male) / Melissa Marik, swimming (female)
- Florida – Joey Sorrentino, football (male) / Rebekah Zaiser, gymnastics (female)
- Georgia – Hunter Lainhart, swimming (male) / Grace Taylor, gymnastics (female)
- Kentucky – Eric McGinnis, swimming (male) / Sarah Rumely, volleyball (female)
- LSU – March 26
- Ole Miss – March 29
- Miss. State – March 30
- South Carolina – March 31
- Tennessee – April 1
- Vanderbilt – April 2
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 AT&T, an SEC Corporate Champion sponsor, 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 3.
Last year’s recipients were Ole Miss tennis player Bram ten Berge and Tennessee swimmer Christine Magnuson.
