McPherson Receives SLC Postgraduate Scholarship
5/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
May 14, 2014
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin high jumper Heather McPherson was honored on Wednesday by the Southland Conference as a recipient of the F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarship. She was one of six student-athletes to receive the award this year, and all six carry a perfect 4.0 GPA.
The McDonald Scholarship is the league's ultimate academic honor for its top graduates. The award is presented annually to graduating male and female letterwinners with the highest cumulative GPA during their enrollment at Southland Conference universities. The $2,500 scholarship must be applied to graduate study at an institution of the recipient's choice.
McPherson is a political science major with a minor in international studies and graduated this spring with a perfect GPA. She has been accepted to graduate school at the University of Maryland where she plans to study in an antiterrorism program.
She tied for fifth place as last weekend's Southland Conference Championship with a leap of 1.65 meters (5-5.00). McPherson finished second at last year's outdoor championship meet and finished in the top eight every year of her career to score points for the Ladyjacks.
Last year, McPherson was named a first team member of the Southland Conference All-Academic Team. She also received the Murray Shaw Academic Award as the student-athlete with the highest GPA on her respective team at SFA's Champions Dinner in April.
The Southland Conference established the award in memory of Dr. F.L. McDonald in 1996-97, a former president of Lamar University and 1999 Southland Hall of Honor inductee. McDonald served as Lamar's president in 1963 when the Southland Conference was established and is considered one of the league's founding fathers.
Each member institution may nominate one male and one female student-athlete who meet the following criteria: a letterwinner in a conference sport, be on track to graduate during the spring in which they are nominated or the subsequent summer, and plan to attend graduate school no later than the second fall following receipt of the award.
Other recipients of the F.L. McDonald Scholarship this year are: Michael Chamberlin (Houston Baptist baseball), Jordan Hanberry (Nicholls State football), Megan McMillin (Southeastern Louisina volleyball), Nora-Beth Saundres (Lamar cross country) and Cassandra Shaw (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's tennis). The recipients will be recognized during the Southland Honors Ceremony on May 20 at the Westin Stonebriar Resort in Frisco.
sfajacks.com
