The University of Arkansas announced Wednesday it has nominated women’s track and field performer Tamara Kuykendall and men’s golfer Mason Overstreet for the SEC’s prestigious H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete post-graduate scholarship.
The scholarship has been presented by the SEC since 1986 to the top male and female scholar-athletes from a list of nominees from each member school. The recipients are chosen by a committee of faculty athletics representatives from all 14 SEC schools.
The SEC will name the 2020 recipients on May 26. The conference provides the winners a $20,000 post-graduate scholarship and the remaining 26 nominees receive a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship.
Arkansas’ previous winners of the McWhorter scholarship are Nathanael Franks (2015) in track and field, Tiffany Woolley (2002) in softball and Jessica Field (1999) in volleyball.
Overstreet’s qualifications include his 3.886 GPA in Sports Management and his three-time selection to the SEC Honor Roll. The Kingfisher, Okla., native was the SEC’s scholar-athlete of the year in men’s golf in 2019.
His 459 career birdies are third on UA’s all-time list and his 13 eagles are tied for first. His scoring average of 71.46 for the shortened 2019-20 season ranks seventh on Arkansas’ single-season list.
Kuykendall, a Little Rock Central product, is an honors graduate in Educational Studies with a 3.788 GPA and president of the UA’s student-athlete advisory committee.
She is a three-time member of the UA’s Champions List and a two-time member of the AD’s List. Kuykendall was an NCAA bronze medalist for the 4 x 100 meter relay team in 2019, which broke the UA record (42.65). She ranks eighth in the 100 meters on Arkansas’ all-time list.