The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section has announced $30,000 in scholarships will be awarded to the 48 winners of the A. Dale Lacky Scholarships for outstanding athletic performance, community service and academic success during their four years of high school.
The award, named after former Section and State CIF President, A. Dale Lacky, recognizes the top male and female student-athletes within the Section. The scholarship committee has selected four male and four female students as the recipients of a $1,000 scholarship. The remaining nominees are awarded a $500 scholarship from the Section. Among the $500 winners is OHS Lady Mustang Andrea York.
She played golf for all four years at Oakdale. She was named all-league three times and was her league champion for three straight years. Her junior year, she became the first golfer in Oakdale High history to advance to the Northern California Regional Championships. She took first place in the Lions Club Speech Tournament and took second in the Soroptimist International Distinguished Young Women Program. She volunteers at the Relay For Life, in youth golf clinics and at the Oakdale High Literacy Center. York has a 3.89 GPA and will attend the University of Redlands, where she will continue her golf career while majoring in English and political science with the future goal of becoming a lawyer.
In addition to the $500 and $1,000 awards, the Clarke Coover Scholarship Award has been given to two of the top honorees. This award, named in honor of former Section Commissioner Clarke Coover, grants a $1,500 scholarship to one male and one female. The 2020 winners of the Clarke Coover Scholarship Award are Merced’s David Chen and St. Francis’ Alexa Edwards.
All schools were allowed to play one extra volleyball game and an extra boys and girls basketball game with 50 percent of the gate going directly to the foundation for the scholarships. More than $24,000 was generated through the foundation games.
All of the winners were to be recognized at the annual CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Breakfast Awards Ceremony, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic it won’t be happening this year. The checks were mailed out to the recipients this past week. The Section will be honoring its three male and three female model coach winners at a later date.
The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section oversees high school athletics for 196 schools and 225,000 students. Its geographic boundaries stretch from Merced in the south, Grass Valley in the North, Napa to the west and the Nevada state line to the east. The Section is the second-largest of California’s 10 athletic sections.
