CHAPEL HILL – Kayla Rae Montgomery of Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem and Christian Sidney Miles of Walter Williams High in Burlington have been named winners of the annual Jerry McGee Endowed Scholarships awarded by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
The two outstanding student-athletes will be recognized during the North Carolina Coaches Association clinic in Greensboro next week, at the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association (NCADA) Leadership Academy held as part of the clinic week.
The scholarships are made possible through the generosity of donors to the fund in honor of the long-time NCADA executive director Jerry McGee. McGee is a member of both the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame and the National High School Sports Hall of Fame. Awarded to two senior year high school student-athletes from NCHSAA member schools, this award is unique because it honors both male and female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves by overcoming adversity and returned to excel beyond expectations in their scholastic sport. The NCADA Awards Committee selects recipients with approval by the NCADA Executive Board.
Montgomery was earlier named the Gatorade North Carolina Girls’ Cross Country Runner of the Year in North Carolina and has excelled in cross country, indoor and outdoor track, earning 12 varsity letters. She won the NCHSAA state 4-A cross country championship in 2013, earned a state crown in indoor track and then won the 3200 state title in the 4-A outdoor meet this spring. Amazingly, she achieved all these athletic accomplishments despite dealing with multiple sclerosis and in many ways is considered a medical miracle.
She has been very active with her church, going abroad on several mission trips, and will continue her career at Lipscomb University in Tennessee.
Miles was a football quarterback and baseball outfielder during his first three years at Williams and then played football and ran track as a senior. An A-B Honor Roll student at Williams, he was also involved with the Williams DREAM team and was a campaign leader for Toys For Tots. He will be attending Guilford College and playing football there this fall.
Miles and his teammates had to endure the sudden death of fellow Bulldog Harry Cohen, who had played quarterback and Miles had been the backup. Miles had to step into that role and then was diagnosed himself with a congenital heart defeat that sidelined him, requiring surgery during the Christmas holidays in 2011. But he battled back and was eventually able to play baseball in the spring of ’12 and returned to the football field as well.
Each recipient receives a $1,000 scholarship to further his or her education at the college level.