[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/marauder-scholar.jpg” caption=”McMaster’s student athletes were honoured earlier this month at the 13th annual Marauder Scholar celebration.”]McMaster's student athletes were honoured earlier this month at the 13th annual Marauder Scholar celebration.

The Marauder Scholar award is given to student-athletes who achieve a minimum grade point average of 9.5 over at least 24 units of class. This year's award was given to 252 students representing approximately one-third of McMaster's student-athlete population.

McMaster also presented the Dr. Mary E. Keyes and Dr. John (Jack) Kennedy Award to the female and male undergraduate student-athlete who best combined outstanding academic achievement and athletic excellence.

The Dr. Mary E. Keyes award was presented to Cathy Conlin, from the women's fastpitch team, and the Dr. John (Jack) Kennedy plaque was awarded to Keegan Selby, of the men's rugby team.

Conlin is a recent graduate of McMaster's highly respected Arts & Science program and is a four-time Dean's Honour List student as well as a Golden Key Honour Society member. In addition to her outstanding academic achievements, Conlin captained the fastpitch team to a fourth place finish and was named the team's most valuable player.

Selby, currently in his fourth year of the honours Bachelor of Health Science program, achieved an incredible 11.7 sessional average last year, placing him on the Dean's Honour List for all three years of his university career. On the field, Selby led the McMaster rugby team to their fifth championship in seven seasons and was named the OUA West Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season. Last March, Selby was given the Ivor Wynne trophy as McMaster's male athlete of the year, the first individual in McMaster history to receive the Jack Kennedy and Athlete of the Year awards in the same year.