Hauskey Stripling McWhorter nominees

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas Razorback student-athletes Thomas Hauskey, a member of the baseball team, and Katie Stripling, a member of the women’s track and field team, have been nominated by the University of Arkansas 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.

Hauskey, a native of Springdale, Ark, earned his undergraduate degree in accounting and finance in the spring of 2009. He is currently working towards a masters’ of accountancy at Arkansas. He is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll (2010 Spring Honor Roll announced later in spring) and has won the Lon Farrell Academic Award at Arkansas four times.

He has earned Dean’s List and Razorback Athletic Directors honors for six semesters. He has earned the University of Arkansas Chancellor’s Scholarship and the Walton College of Business Honors Fellowship every semester at Arkansas.

A member of the Razorback College World Series team in 2009, Hauskey was the designated hitter and a key reserve. In 18 games played, he hit .308 with a .357 on base percentage and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.

Hauskey is a member of Who’s Who in America’s Colleges and Universities and the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. As a member of the Beta Alpha Psi accounting/finance fraternity, he has volunteered in food drives, park clean-up programs, children’s programs and the Race for the Cure. He also helped raise funds with the baseball team to provide gifts to underprivileged families during the holiday season.

Stripling, a senior from Jonesboro, Ark., has earned a 3.96 grade point average, majoring in kinesiology and exercise science. She is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll (2010 Spring Honor Roll announced later in spring). She is an eight-time University of Arkansas Department of Athletics Academic Champion.

She was named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America Team in 2009 and is a three-time member of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association All-Academic Team. She has also been named the University of Arkansas Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2009-10.

Athletically, Stripling is one of the nation’s top pole vaulters. Most recently, at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships, she finished fifth to earn her fourth career All-America honor. In 2009, she finished third at the NCAA Indoor Championships and fifth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She is a three-time SEC Champion and All-SEC performer in the pole vault. Outdoors, she owns the school record and the SEC Championship record with a clearance of 14-5.25 at the 2009 SEC Championships.

In the Fayetteville community, she has helped host underprivileged children at a local fun park for three years. As a member of the "Sweat Hogs," she has visited local elementary schools to demonstrate exercises and instill the importance of being physically active. She has also volunteered at local high school track meets and track clinics as an official.

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 Mynemi, tennis (male) / Kassandra Price, gymnastics (female)

Arkansas – Thomas Hauskey, baseball (male) / Katie Stripling, track & field (female)

Auburn – March 22

Florida – March 23

Georgia – March 24

Kentucky – March 25

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 Athletic 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.