CHAPEL HILL – Cameryn Smith of West Brunswick High School
and Dalton Edwards of West Iredell High School have been named winners of the
annual Jerry McGee Endowed Scholarships awarded by the North Carolina High
School Athletic Association.
The two outstanding student-athletes will be recognized
during the North Carolina Coaches Association clinic in Greensboro next week,
at the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association (NCADA) Leadership Academy
held as part of the clinic week.
The scholarships are made possible through the generosity of
donors to the fund in honor of the long-time NCADA executive director Jerry
McGee. McGee is a member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association
Hall of Fame, the National High School Sports Hall of Fame, and the North
Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Awarded to two senior year high school
student-athletes from NCHSAA member schools each year, this award is unique
because it honors both male and female student-athletes who have distinguished
themselves by overcoming adversity and returned to excel beyond expectations in
their scholastic sport. The NCADA Awards Committee selects recipients with
approval by the NCADA Executive Board.
Smith was a women’s golf performer at West Brunswick who
served as team captain one year and finished in the individual top 10 twice in
four years of qualifying for the NCHSAA state tournament. The first player from
her school to qualify for the state event, she also earned conference Player of
the Year honors as a junior.
A member of the National Honor Society and Key Club in high
school, Smith battled a rare blood disorder discovered after a lengthy hospital
stay during her freshman year but was still able to excel in golf. She plans to
play collegiately at Queens University in Charlotte.
Edwards played soccer and football during his career, but
could not complete his junior year in sports because he needed a liver
transplant after two major surgeries as a result of battling cancer. He still
managed to be an all-conference performer as a goalkeeper in soccer.
He was a member of the National Honor Society and involved
in Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) while also serving as a peer mentor at
the school.
He will be attending Pfeiffer University this fall.
Each recipient receives a $1,000 scholarship to further his
or her education at the college level.
