Goucher Athletics Announces Scholar Athlete Award

BALTIMORE, Md. – Rylee McDonnell (Estell Manor, N.J./Ocean City), a member of the Goucher College women's soccer team, has been named the Scholar Award winner.

The Scholar Award has been presented annually since 1923 to a member of the junior class who has maintained high standards of academic achievement and consistently demonstrated varied and admirable participation in athletics and extra-curricular activities. In choosing a recipient, coaches and staff will give weight to qualities in the following manner: 70 percent academic background; 20 percent athletic achievement; 10 percent extra-curricular experience.

"Congratulations to Rylee for receiving the Scholar Athlete Award," said head coach Stephanie Ricketts. "She definitely deserves this award and I'm very excited for her. She is one of the leaders on our team and works very hard in the classroom and on the field."

A biochemistry and molecular biology major with a pre-med minor, McDonnell holds a 4.0 grade point average and has been named to the Landmark Conference Academic Honor Roll in each of her first two years in Baltimore. On the field, McDonnell started all 18 games in 2019 and helped the Gopher defense to three shutout victories including a 2-0 win against Juniata October 12 to end a 14-game conference winless streak.

"I am extremely honored to be accepting this award and I'd like to thank my professors, teammates, coaches and family members for always pushing me to do my best both on the field and off the field," said McDonnell.  

For her career, McDonnell has started all 52 games she has played with one goal in her freshman campaign against Catholic and has helped the team to nine shutouts including a 7-0-2 record in those contests.

Along with McDonnell, Tes DeJaeger (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon) (women's volleyball/women's tennis), Ari Hooper (San Diego, Calif./Poway) (field hockey), Abbie McHerron (Burnt Hills, N.Y./Burnt Hills) (women's lacrosse), Tetsuya Ota (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Saddlebrook Prep) (men's tennis) and Kathryn Shannon (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Louisville) (women's swimming) were also nominated.