UM Student-Athletes Receive ACC Postgraduate Scholarships
Feb. 25, 2011
Greensboro, N.C. – Brittney Macdonald, Deidre Novotny and Brittany Viola of the University of Miami soccer and swimming & diving teams have been selected to receive the 2011 James-Weaver-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship Award announced Friday morning by Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford.
The Weaver-James-Corrigan and Jim and Pat Thacker scholarships are awarded to selected student-athletes – three from each league institution – who intend to pursue a graduate degree following completion of their undergraduate requirements. Each recipient will receive $5,000 to contribute to their graduate education. Those honored have performed with distinction in both the classroom and his/her respective sports, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community.
Brittney Macdonald has led Miami’s defense to four of the Top 5 goals against averages in program history. In her career, she has scored six goals (three in her senior season) with three game-winners and an assist. The Littleton, Colo. native played 80 games in her collegiate career, more than any other Hurricane. She was a three0time Academic All-ACC selection, and was named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA District III Academic Second Team in 2008 and ’09. On Oct. 27, 2009, she was named to the Soccer America National Teal of the Week; and was selected to the Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week on Oct. 28, 2008.
Novotny, a swimmer from Palm Harbor, broke two school records in the 200 Medley Relay and 200 Backstroke during her four-year career. She was one of Christie Shefchunas’ first recruits when she took over the `Canes swimming program five years ago. Novotny has served as a team captain for UM this season, and has been on the Academic Honor Roll all four years. She also served two years as president for Camp Kesem (a student run organization that puts on a weeklong camp for children of cancer patients); in addition to helping create a new organization – HealthCanes.
Brittany Viola is one of the most decorated female divers in UM history, collecting the 2008 NCAA platform diving title – and most recently, earning the platform national championship at the USA Diving Winter National Championships earlier this month in Iowa City, Iowa. During the summer of 2009, she was selected as the team captain for the USA diving team at the FINA World Championships in Rome. Off the boards, she has served as president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) since 2009, and earned straight-A’s last semester en route to being named to the President’s Honor Roll. Viola’s future plans include training for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, as well as attending graduate school and receiving her MBA.
The Weaver-James-Corrigan Award is named in honor of the late Jim Weaver and Bob James, as well as Gene Corrigan, all of whom are former ACC commissioners. The league’s first commissioner, James H. Weaver, served the conference from 1954-70 after a stint as the Director of Athletics at Wake Forest University. His early leadership and uncompromising integrity are largely responsible for the excellent reputation enjoyed by the ACC today.
Robert C. James, a former University of Maryland football player, was named commissioner in 1971 and served in that capacity for 16 years. During his tenure, the league continued to grow in stature and became recognized as a national leader in athletics and academics, winning 23 national championships and maintaining standards of excellence in the classroom.
Eugene F. Corrigan assumed his role as the third full-time commissioner of September 1, 1987, and served until August of 1997. During Corrigan’s tenure, ACC schools captured 30 NCAA championships and two national football titles.
Prior to 1994, the Weaver-James postgraduate scholarships were given as separate honors. The Jim Weaver Award, which originated in 1970, recognized exceptional achievement on the playing field and in the classroom, while the Bob James Award, established in 1987, also honored outstanding student-athletes.
The Thacker Award, which originated in 2005, is awarded in honor of the late Jim and Pat Thacker of Charlotte, N.C. Jim Thacker was the primary play-by-play announcer for the ACC’s first television network. Recipients of the award must demonstrate outstanding performance both in athletic competition and in the classroom and intend to further their education through postgraduate studies at an ACC institution.
The 41 student-athletes to receive this year’s James-Weaver-Corrigan Award will be honored on April 13, 2011 at the ¬¬¬¬¬Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, N.C., at a luncheon hosted by the Nat Greene Kiwanis Club.
For more information on the James-Weaver-Corrigan Award and a complete list of this year’s recipients, please log on to TheACC.com.
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