Area Athletes Awarded AAA Scholarships

Three area athletes were among 10 high school seniors selected to receive a $1,000 college scholarship from the Arkansas Activities Association's Scholar-Athlete Program sponsored by State Farm®. In the girls' division the winners are: Elisabeth Esther Yates of Huntsville (volleyball), Jenny Caroline Redfern of Danville (basketball), Dana Gail Gray of Parkers Chapel (softball), Sarah Grace Neff of Little Rock Christian (track) and Alyssa Michele Goodin of Wynne (golf). In the boys' division the winners are: Jake Allen Bolt of Mountain Home (football), Joel Alan Perry of Springdale Har-Ber (basketball), Bennie James Kirk of Huntsville (baseball), Nicholas Wayne West of Mount Vernon-Enola (track) and Nick Alan Mote of Sheridan (golf). This is the 14th year for the AAA Scholar-Athlete Program. This school year 188 student-athletes from 87 member schools submitted applications for the scholarships. Each student-athlete had to meet scholastic requirements of a 7-semester minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher, and each student-athlete had to score at least 21 on the ACT or at least 900 on the SAT. The other requirements for the Scholar-Athlete Scholarship were: A senior athlete registered with the AAA. All- student-athletes had to meet NCAA Scholarship rules. Each student-athlete had to display good citizenship in their school and in the community. Each student-athlete had to display desirable leadership traits. Each student-athlete had to be active in other school activities. The 10 scholarship winners will be honored at a luncheon on Monday, May 18, 2009 at the Hilton Little Rock Metro Center at 925 South University.