Four UIS student-athletes receive Avery Brundage Scholarships

Four students from the University of Illinois Springfield have been awarded Avery Brundage Scholarships for excellence in academics and athletics. Each winner will receive a $2,500 award for the 2013-2014 academic year.

The recipients are Mallory Beck of Springfield, Ill., a biology major and Prairie Stars basketball and softball player; Chelsea Minor of Petersburg, Ill., a criminal justice major and softball player; Paige Polonus of Plainfield, Ill., a biology major and soccer player; and Mandy Smith of Fillmore, Ill., a business administration major and softball player.

The Avery Brundage Scholarship Fund Committee, composed of nine representatives from the faculties and student bodies of the Chicago, Springfield and Urbana-Champaign campuses, selects students from each U of I campus who engage in athletics for personal development, not as preparation for professional sports. In addition, the students must be working toward bachelors, masters or doctoral degrees at the U of I and must be in the upper 25 percent of their undergraduate class or in good academic standing in their graduate program.

The scholarship program was established in 1974 by an endowment from Avery Brundage, University of Illinois alumnus and former president of the International and U.S. Olympic committees.

For more information, contact Tim Gilles, scholarship coordinator for University-wide Student Programs at 217/333-1171.