Thompson, Rosely Named Kentucky’s SEC Brad Davis Community Service Award Winners
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky rifle’s Jaden Thompson and swimming and diving’s Zane Rosely are the school’s Brad Davis Community Service Award winners for 2023-24, the Southeastern Conference announced Thursday.
Each is eligible to be named the SEC’s overall winners later this month. The school winners will each receive a $5,000 post-graduate scholarship provided by the SEC. The overall Community Service Leaders of the Year will each receive a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship.
The SEC Community Service Post-Graduate Scholarship is named for former Associate Commissioner Brad Davis. Davis succumbed to cancer on March 2, 2006. He had been a member of the SEC staff since 1988, first serving as an assistant commissioner until 1994 when he was promoted to associate commissioner. Davis was a member of the University of Kentucky sports information staff from 1984-88.
Thompson has been a mainstay for the UK rifle program the last five years, leading UK to two National Championships, four Great America Rifle Conference Regular-Season Championships and two GARC Tournament Championships. This past season, Thompson helped Kentucky finish third nationally in air rifle and smallbore for an overall fourth-place finish at the national championships. This season, Thompson tied her career high in smallbore and set a new air rifle career high.
Community service has been important to Thompson since arriving in Lexington, spending countless hours out in the Lexington community. Included in her length lists of service work is serving on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, volunteering with Boy Scouts of America, Lexington Humane Society, Eastview Funeral Ministry, American Red Cross, Crooked Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation, Kentucky Children’s Hospital and Kentucky Horse Park. One of her most extensive community service projects was with Eastview Christian Church Café 19, serving, prepping and organizing food pickup for the church community.
Thompson graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in animal sciences in May 2023 earning a GPA of 3.6 or higher all four years. She is currently pursuing a master of science with an expected graduation date of May 2025. The native of Bloomington, Illinois, is a five-year member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and was awarded the 2019 Bluegrass Spirit Academic Scholarship due to her academic success.
As team captain of the program the past few seasons, Rosely has put together an accomplished athletic career wearing Blue and White. The two-time CSCAA Academic All-America First Team swimmer owns top-10 times in five different events at Kentucky, was an “A-Finalist” at the 2023 SEC Championship in the 400 Individual Medley and a 2021 NCAA individual qualifier. At the 2024 SEC Championships, Rosely swam a personal best 1:44.65 in the 200 butterfly, which was a B-standard time.
Rosely has been very active with community service during his tenure in Lexington, spending over 70 hours with Golfview Estates Neighborhood Association, where he assisted with neighborhood cleanup and delivering welcome kits to new residents. Rosely has also been heavily involved in God’s Pantry Good Bank, helping pack lunches for students in Fayette County and delivering them to local schools. He has also volunteered at the Kentucky Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Salvation Army and Special Olympics.
Rosely will graduate this weekend with a bachelor of business administration degree majoring in finance and management. The native of White Lake, Michigan, will graduate with honors holding a cumulative GPA of 3.912. A four-year member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, Rosely was named 2022-23 and 2023-24 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District.
