For the second straight year, an East Texas A&M University student-athlete has earned the prestigious F.L. McDonald Scholarship from the Southland Conference as Lion softball player Kasey Kuyrkendall was announced as one of the winners by the conference office on Friday morning for the 2024-25 academic year.
Only two student-athletes across all sports and schools in the Southland receive the F.L. McDonald award, which is presented annually to one female and one male graduating student-athlete upon selection by the Southland Conference Faculty Athletic Representative Committee. The $5,000 scholarship must be applied to graduate study at an institution of the recipient’s choice.
Kuyrkendall (Royse City) follows Lion track & field student-athlete Colten van Voorhis, who earned the award last year, as F.L. McDonald award winners for East Texas A&M since joining the Southland.
A three-year member of the Lion softball team, Kuyrkendall was also a representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the East Texas A&M Honor’s College, and the Chi Omega Sorority, throughout her Lion career, serving leadership officer roles of recruitment assistant and treasurer for Chi Omega.
Being chosen as the team captain for two years, Kuyrkendall appeared in 95 games over three seasons and served an internship with the athletic department during the spring semester of her senior year as well.
This past spring, she received her bachelors of science in sport & recreation management, graduating with a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average and earning Summa Cum Laude with honors distinction. Kuyrkendall was named to the President’s List in all six semesters she attended at East Texas A&M and the SLC Commissioner’s Honor Roll three times.
Kuyrkendall is set to begin her Master of Science in sport management at Baylor this fall, while also serving as a graduate assistant for the Baylor Athletics Ticket Office.
The F.L. McDonald award was established in 1996 in memory of Dr. F.L. McDonald, a former president of Lamar University and 1999 Southland Hall of Honor inductee. McDonald was serving as Lamar’s president in 1963 when the Southland Conference was established. He is considered one of the league’s founding fathers.
New Orleans’ baseball player Alexander Saunier is the male F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarship award winner from the Southland this year.
Kuyrkendall and Saunier were chosen from a pool of fellow classmates and graduated student-athletes. Applicants must have at least a 3.75 GPA and have lettered at least two seasons at the nominating institution. Each recipient must enroll in a full-time graduate program within one year of receiving the award.
Article source and photo credit: East Texas A&M Lion Athletics
