On May 19, seniors Claire Grunewald and Kurt Rawlings were recognized for their excellence in academics and athletics by The Al Cesky Scholarship Fund.

The Al Cesky Scholarship Fund, also known as the Cesky Scholarship, is a scholarship awarded to high school seniors in Harford County that excel in athletics and academics. Two students, one male and one female, are chosen as finalists from each high school and from the pool of finalists two overall winners are then chosen.

Grunewald won a $2,000 scholarship for being a finalist and Rawlings won a $5,000 scholarship for being the male overall winner.

Grunewald was surprised when she found out that she had been nominated as the top female scholar athlete at JC. “I personally don’t find myself athletic, but I was honored nonetheless,” Grunewald said.

Grunewald says that she owes her success to field hockey coach Gary Scholl and all of the great teachers she has had here at JC.

Rawlings, who was in Honduras when he received the news, did not truly understand the importance of the award until returning home and seeing the award in front of him. “All I could do was thank God for the many talents that he has blessed me with,” Rawlings said.

Rawlings also attributes his success to his family. “My parents have put me in the best situations to achieve so much, and my brother has shown me what it takes to succeed athletically and academically,” Rawlings said.

Since Rawlings was unable to attend the banquet himself, his father and coach, Keith, received the award for him.

Grunewald and Rawlings are set to attend Lafayette University and Yale University, respectively, in the fall.

Elizabeth Harmison is a Multimedia Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.