MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University gymnast Jaida Lawrence has been named the gymnastics winner for the 2016 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award, as announced today by the Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine.

 

The Rocky Hill, Connecticut, native was named a semifinalist for the award on March 2. The three overall finalists will be announced on March 17, and the top Male and Female Athletes of the Year will be announced on April 7.

 

Today’s winners will be listed in the April 21, 2016, edition of Diverse. Representing 36 sports, this year’s winners were chosen from more than 1,000 outstanding minority student-athletes nominated by their respective institutions.

 

Lawrence has been featured in the Mountaineer lineups in all 44 career meets. One of the team’s top vaulters for the last four years, she owns 13 career victories, all on vault, and shows a career-high 9.925 score, earned on Feb. 21, 2014, at the Perfect 10 Challenge in Oklahoma City. Lawrence has earned 97.625 points in nine meets this year and 702.375 career points, the second-most points on the team.

 

The 2015 Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Lawrence is a three-time NACGC/W Scholastic All-American. A speech pathology and audiology major, she also has been named to the Academic All-Big 12 Gymnastics First Team twice, as well as the 2013 Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team, and is a member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll and the President’s and Dean’s Lists.

 

Established in 1992 by Black Issues in Higher Education magazine, now Diverse, the award honors undergraduate student-athletes of color who exemplify the standards set by tennis great, Arthur Ashe Jr. To be included, student-athletes must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.2, be active on their campuses or in their communities and demonstrate excellent athletic achievement.  

 

Most recently, WVU women’s basketball player Jess Harlee was named the Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year in 2013.

 

Lawrence, along with classmates Melissa Idell and Audrey Tolbert, will celebrate her final career meet at the WVU Coliseum tomorrow night, as the No. 25-ranked Mountaineers face Pitt in their 2016 home regular-season finale at 7 p.m. It’s a “Dollar Night,” and all tickets, hot dogs, popcorn and Coca Colas will be available for $1 each.