March 21, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Football player Cole Bennett and swimmer Kristen Hastrup have been nominated by Auburn University for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship.

The H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship has been presented by the Southeastern Conference since 1986 to the league's top male and female scholar-athletes.

The Southeastern Conference will name the 2008 recipients of the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship on April 6 in conjunction with National Student-Athlete Day.

Bennett, a graduate student from Dalton, Ga., earned his undergraduate degree Magna Cum Laude from Auburn in Information Systems Management in 2006 with a 3.63 grade point average. He will complete his master's of science degree in May.

As a tight end on Auburn's Chick-fil-A Bowl champion team, he caught 11 passes for 108 yards in 2007. During his Tiger career, he caught 29 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns. He had touchdown catches against Tennessee in 2003 and Mississippi State and Alabama in 2005. He redshirted last season after injuring an ankle in the third game of the season.

He is a four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and was a second-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District member. He was a semifinalist for the Draddy Trophy, given annually by the National Football Foundation to college football's top scholar-athlete.

A four-year letterman, Bennett was awarded the offensive Pat Dye Leadership Award in Spring 2007.

In the Auburn community, Bennett has been a guest speaker at area churches and Boy Scout chapters and volunteered in Hurricane Katrina relief. As an active member of the Auburn Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, he participated in Toys for Tots, Student-Athlete Day and canned food drives.

Kristen Hastrup

Hastrup, a senior from Fresno, Calif., has earned a 4.00 grade point average, majoring in Biomedical Sciences. She is a two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and has earned Auburn University Academic Top Tiger honors three times. She earned first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors and is a three time CSCAA Academic All-American.

Hastrup is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society, Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society, National Society of Collegiate Scholars and is an associate member of Alpha Epsilon Delta (pre-health Professional Society).

She is a member of Who's Who in America's Colleges and Universities and the Dean's List. She received the Scholar of Promise Award from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars for volunteer work in 2005 and the Jewel Award, issued by the Boys2Men/Girls2Women organization for volunteer work.

Hastrup has also volunteered with the local Boys and Girls Club, Salvation Army and swam in the fundraiser, "Laps for CF", raising money for research and treatment for Cystic Fibrosis.

Athletically, Hastrup is a three-time All-American and a member of three SEC Team Champions and two NCAA championship squads. She was the 200 butterfly champion at the 2007 SEC Championships and holds the Auburn record in that event as well. She won the Stanley Louis Sugar Memorial Award as an outstanding scholar-athlete by Auburn University.

For the last two seasons, she has competed at the U.S. Senior Nationals, winning the B final in 2006 and placing second in the C final in 2007.

The SEC Office will be releasing each of its institution's nominees periodically until the April 6 winners are announced. The schedule is as follows:

            Alabama - Joseph Sykora, Golf (Male) / Jordan Praytor, Softball (Female)
            Arkansas - Tyler Hill, Track & Field (Male) / Stacy Lewis, Golf (Female)
            Auburn - Cole Bennett, Football (Male) / Kristen Hastrup, Swimming (Female)
            Florida - March 24
            Georgia - March 25
            Kentucky - March 26
            LSU - March 27
            Ole Miss - March 28
            Miss. State - March 31
            South Carolina - April 1
            Tennessee - April 2
            Vanderbilt - April 3

National Student-Athlete Day was created in 1987 by the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS) and Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society, and presented by the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).

National Student-Athlete Day is held each April 6 to celebrate outstanding student-athletes who have achieved excellence in academics and athletics while having made significant contributions to the community. It is also a time to recognize those parents, teachers, coaches and school systems which make it possible for young people to find the balance between academics and athletics.

Each year, the SEC, in conjunction with AT&T, an SEC Corporate Champion sponsor, provides the league's male and female McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients with a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship. The 22 remaining male and female finalists for the award will also receive a $5,000 post-graduate scholarship. The award recipients are chosen by a committee of Faculty Athletics Representatives from the 12 SEC institutions and are honored at the SEC Spring Meetings in Sandestin, Fla. on May 29.

Last year's recipients were Alabama baseball player Emeel Salem and Vanderbilt track and field athlete Erika Schneble.