Alabama swimmer Anton McKee and volleyball player Krystal Rivers are the Crimson Tide’s nominees for the prestigious H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship the Southeastern Conference office announced Thursday.
The H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship has been presented to the league’s top male and female scholar-athletes by the SEC since 1986.
McKee carries a cumulative 4.0 grade point average in management information systems and a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and the 2016 CoSIDA At-Large Team Academic All-American of the Year. An 11-time All-American, he was the 2017 NCAA 200 breaststroke runner-up and SEC 200 breaststroke champion. He helped lead Alabama to three-consecutive NCAA top-10 finishes, marking the first time Alabama has posted a trio of top-10 finishes in a row since 1981-83.
The Hafnarfjordur, Iceland, native made an immediate impact for the Tide, setting the SEC record on the way to winning the SEC 200 breaststroke title as a freshman. He is the school record holder in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and 200 individual medley and as part of the 400 medley relay. A two-time Olympian, he posted a top-20 finish in the 200 breaststroke at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. At the 2015 FINA World Championships, McKee posted top-20 finishes in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, setting the Icelandic national record in both events.
Rivers carries a 3.646 cumulative GPA while pursuing dual degrees in biology and Spanish. She is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, making her just the second two-time winner in program history. She also is the first SEC player to earned SEC Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and SEC Player of the Year of the year honors in the same season, which she did as a senior in 2016. She is also the first Alabama volleyballer to be named the SEC Player of the Year.
A four-year AVCA All-American, she is the first Alabama player to earn four such honors. She is also a four-time AVCA All-South Region and four-time All-SEC honoree. The Birmingham, Ala., native is the Alabama career record holder for kills (2,148) and points (2,506) and is the single season record-holder for hitting percentage (.404). She also ranks in the top five at Alabama in seven other career stats.
Each year, the SEC, in conjunction with AT&T, an official SEC sponsor, provides the league’s male and female McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients with a $15,000 post-graduate scholarship. The 26 remaining male and female finalists for the award will receive a $7,500 postgraduate scholarship.
The award recipients are chosen by a committee of Faculty Athletics Representatives from the 14 SEC institutions and are honored at the SEC Spring Meetings in Sandestin, Fla., in early June.
Last year’s McWhorter Award winners were Alabama softball player Haylie McCleney and Forrest Gamble of the Ole Miss men’s golf team.
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News courtesy of Alabama Athletics.
Congrats Anton!