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Finalists named for Winged Foot Scholar-Athlete Award
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The names of the nine finalists for the 18th annual Winged Foot Scholar-Athlete Award have been released.
Graduating seniors from Collier County high schools are eligible for the award, which was created in 1990 by the Collier Athletic Club.
The winner will be revealed on Thursday, May 24 at the Naples Grande Resort & Club, formerly known as the Registry Resort. Baltimore Ravens football coach Brian Billick will be the keynote speaker.
Each of the nine students were chosen by their respective schools based on their performance both academically and athletically. The winner will receive a scholarship worth a total of $10,000 -- $2,500 a year for four years. The other finalists will receive one-time stipends of $3,000.
Gulf Coast’s Lee Campbell won the 2006 award. Nine males and eight females have won the award. There are five females and four males in this year's class. Everglades City High School did not submit a candidate this year.
This year's Winged Foot finalists, in alphabetical order, are:
Mike Barry, Barron Collier
Ashlyn Bickwermert, Naples
Ben Gillenwaters, St. John Neumann
Aaron Henry, Immokalee
Aimee Kent, Community School
Orelys Martinez, Golden Gate
Jennifer Maybin, Gulf Coast
Samantha Milne, Palmetto Ridge
Kevin Swisher, Lely
Each candidate was required to complete an extensive application process in order to be considered by their respective schools. Each school then determined its representative.
On Monday, the Winged Foot Selection Committee met and conducted informal interviews with each candidate. The committee then made its final decision, which will not be announced until the May 24 banquet.
Billick follows Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Morgan as the keynote speaker at the banquet.
Billick, 53, is one of nine current head coaches to have won a Super Bowl. He led the Ravens to the Super Bowl title in 2000 in Tampa. The Ravens made the playoffs this past season, losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts, 15-6, in the divisional round.
Billick has coached the Ravens since 1999, and they are 75-53 in his tenure. He previously was offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings from 1993-98. Billick was tight ends coach in Minnesota in 1992 after three years at Stanford.
Table sponsors are available for $1,500. They receive recognition in the banquet program and eight tickets to the event. There also are $3,000 school sponsors that include a table of eight for the finalist and his/her parents, teachers and coaches, and a table of eight for the sponsors themselves.
Individual tickets are $200. Revenues from the banquet go to the scholarship program. For more information, call 262-7171.
The major sponsors of the Winged Foot are the Barron Collier Jr. Foundation, Orion Bank, Merrill Lynch, and Lutgert Company/Lutgert Insurance/Premier Properties.
Winged Foot committee memberships also are available for $300 and include special recognition at the banquet.
Billick follows Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Morgan as the keynote speaker at the banquet.
Previous winners
Past winners of the Collier Athletic Club's Winged Foot Scholar-Athlete Award: Terry Dean (Barron Collier, 1990) Rich Hill (Barron Collier, 1991) Danny Bond (Naples 1992) Ryan Krzykowski (Lely, 1993) Jean Bonnici (Naples, 1994) Lynn Miller (Naples, 1995) Ethan Altaratz (Naples, 1996) Jacki Haar (Lely, 1997) Carissa Johnson (Immokalee, 1998) Kelly Roloff (Barron Collier, 1999) Lars Grimm (Community School, 2000) Shannon McGregor (St. John Neumann, 2001) Eric Beights (Lely, 2002) Alyssa Van Gemert (Barron Collier, 2003) Ingrid Schumacher (Naples, 2004) Wiselet Rouzard (Immokalee, 2005) Lee Campbell (Gulf Coast, 2005)
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