Nikki Parsley of Milford High School & Jake Haley of Queen Anne’s County High School Named WBOC/Mountaire Farms Scholar Athletes of the Year

On Monday, July 12^th, Mountaire Farms hosted the Inaugural Scholar Athlete of the Month Awards Reception at the Georgia House Restaurant in Laurel, DE.  The event capped off the 2^nd year of the WBOC/Mountaire Scholar Athlete of the Month program, an award designed to highlight and honor the outstanding student athletes on the Delmarva Peninsula.  Monthly winners were joined by family, coaches and teachers in the Georgia House banquet room for dinner and a year end highlight reel presented by WBOC Sports Director, Scott Abraham.  After each student athlete was once again recognized for their outstanding achievements, Roger Marino, Corporate Director of Community Relations for Mountaire Farms, concluded the event by announcing the 2009-2010 WBOC/Mountaire Scholar Athletes of the Year…

From September through June, WBOC and Mountaire Farms were able to identify some of the best and brightest individuals in our area through nominations sent in via schools, coaches and proud parents.  Out of hundreds of nominations, ten student athletes stood out and were selected to become the Scholar Athletes of the Month for the 2009-2010 school year.  Each monthly winner received an engraved crystal trophy plus a banner to display in the halls of their school. Their stories were also featured in a WBOC-TV newscast covering individual accolades on field, in the classroom and in the community.  All ten students, five males & five females, were then eligible to become the Scholar Athletes of Year and receive $1,000 college scholarships.

This year’s ten monthly winners were:

September – Brad Harris of Worcester Preparatory School in Berlin, MD;
October – Elizabeth Baker of Lake Forrest High School in Felton, DE;
November – Nikki Parsley of Milford High School in Milford, DE;
December – Jordan Keating of Cambridge South Dorchester H.S. in Cambridge, MD;
January – Shane Miller of Sussex Central High School in Georgetown, DE;
February – Haley Quillen of Seaford High School in Seaford, DE;
March – Bradley Janson of Stephen Decatur High School in Berlin , MD;
April – Travis Prunty of James M. Bennett High School in Salisbury, MD;
May – Kaci Coveleski of Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes, DE;
June – Jake Haley of Queen Anne’s County High School in Centreville, MD.

…WBOC and Mountaire Farms are proud to announce the recipients of the ’09-’10 WBOC/Mountaire Scholar Athletes of the Year award; Nikki Parsley of Milford High School & Jake Haley of Queen Anne’s County High School.

Nikki was a two sport star for the Milford High Buccaneers, thriving both on the hockey field and softball diamond.  Challenging herself to be the best she can be both in the classroom and on the athletic fields, her passion for excellence earned her multiple awards as well as a state title in softball during her junior season.  Her typical day involved a loaded schedule of honors and advanced placement college courses, followed by after school practice for the teams she captained.  This fall Nikki plans on attending Northwestern University in the Big Ten conference and playing field hockey for one of the nation’s top ranked programs.  Her goal is to one day become an American History teacher at the high school or college level where she hopes to coach field hockey. 

Jake Haley is one of the most highly-touted high school lacrosse players in the State of Maryland.  Since his sophomore year Jake has been piling up one prestigious honor after another.  Aside from his two straight MVP seasons as team captain, he’s also been named to the Maryland Free State Team, named a Nike Blue Chip selection, played in the Under Armor AA Lacrosse Underclassmen game, and is listed by Inside Lacrosse Magazine as a Top 50 lacrosse prospect nationally.  If that weren’t enough, Jake also captained the football team where he earned honors as an All-Conference Safety and even holds the state record for longest interception return for a touchdown, 108 yards.  Couple his athleticism with a 4.0 GPA, and its clear Jake Haley deserves the title of WBOC/Mountaire Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Jake’s accolades on the field may have gotten all the headlines, but his coach’s and teacher’s were adamant in reminding everyone of his talents in the classroom as well.  After years of honors and advanced placement classes Jake undertook the challenge of an Intro to Business course load at Chesapeake College during his senior year, which should come in handy this fall when he begins his tenure at Georgetown University and looks to make his mark on the Hoyas lacrosse team.      

To view more info on all of our Scholar Athletes of the Month click here   or to view a complete photo gallery of the reception click here.  Entries for the 2010-2011 WBOC/Mountaire Scholar Athlete Program will be accepted beginning August 1.

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Program Details:

Our local communities have many outstanding young individuals that Mountaire felt could be an inspiration to the rest of us if there was a way to recognize and call attention to their hard work, commitment to excellence, and team leadership. To accomplish this goal WBOC-TV 16 and Mountaire Farms joined together to create this unique program to highlight and honor outstanding student athletes on Delmarva.  Each month, this award will recognize a male or female athlete in his/her senior year from one Delmarva High School, who carries a "B" average or higher. Nominees need to also be recognized by their coaches for outstanding sportsmanship and perform with superior ability in athletic competition.  This year we are also recognizing and individual who demonstrates the afformentioned abilities and is committed to service in a United States Military Academy. 

Each month, the selected Delmarva high school WBOC/ Mountaire Farms Scholar Athlete will receive an engraved, crystal trophy, recognizing him/her as the monthly honoree, a banner to display inside their school, and will be featured in a 2-3 minute vignette with a WBOC Sports Director Scott Abraham (at his/her school).  This vignette will spotlight our Scholar Athletes academic and athletic performance and be aired on WBOC-TV/FOX21, as well as featured on the WBOC-TV Sports Web site.  Honorees will also be highlighted in Mountaire Farms quarterly newsletter, which is distributed throughout Delmarva.  Each monthly WBOC/ Mountaire Farms Scholar Athlete will also receive $1,000 college scholarships from Mountaire, which will be presented at school years end during a special awards function.  At years end one male and one female athlete scholar athlete will be named the "WBOC/Mountaire Farms Scholar Athletes of the Year." Both will receive an additional $2,500 along with additional news coverage.

Entries will be accepted from Aug. 1, 2010 through May 15, 2011 and should contain the following in submission:

- Name and gender of student;
- School attending;
- Name of school-sponsored sport(s) in which the student participates;
- Verification of grades: either a copy of the previous marking period report card or a letter from school counselor stating student's GPA (for this year's first semester marking periods, please use student's junior term final grades);
- Written recommendation from his/her coach

There is no limit on the number of submissions received each month/year from each school.

Submit your nomination by mail to:

WBOC/Mountaire Farms Scholar Athlete of the Month
C/O WBOC-TV
1729 N. Salisbury Blvd
Salisbury, MD 21801

Submit a nomination online to sportslist@wboc.com , subject Scholar Athlete Nomination.  Please remember to attach a scan of the grades and a copy of the letter of recommendation to your e-mail.