FRISCO, Texas — Texas A&M-Commerce cross country/track and field student-athlete Colten van Voorhis and UIW women's soccer student-athlete Payton Adams have been awarded the 2024 F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarships, the conference office announced Friday.
 
The award is presented annually to one female and one male graduating student-athlete upon selection by the Southland Conference Faculty Athletic Representative Committee. The $5,000 scholarship must be applied to graduate study at an institution of the recipient’s choice.
 
The award was established in 1996 in memory of Dr. F.L. McDonald, a former president of Lamar University and 1999 Southland Hall of Honor inductee. McDonald was serving as Lamar's president in 1963 when the Southland Conference was established. He is considered one of the league's founding fathers.
 
Adams and van Voorhis were chosen from a pool of fellow classmates and graduated student-athletes. Applicants must have at least a 3.75 GPA and have lettered at least two seasons at the nominating institution. Each recipient must enroll in a full-time graduate program within one year of receiving the award.

Colten van Voorhis, Texas A&M-Commerce Cross Country
Van Voorhis competed as a distance runner on the cross country/track and field teams at A&M-Commerce while serving as a memmber of the Lions' Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

He participated on the Department of Homeland Security Research Program in the summer of 2023, taking involvement on projects related to identifying and protecting against security vulnerabilities to emerging emergency communication systems. 

Van Voorhis continued that work into his final year of undergraduate studies as a research assistant and syposium participant, furthering his efforts from the DHS program while contrubuting to the creation of a computer science lab that coordinated efforts between Commerce and RELLIS TAMU campuses. 

The A&M-Commerce graduate also participated in the university's ESPN+ broadcasts, serving as a camera operator for on-campus athletic events. 

Payton Adams, UIW Women's Soccer
A staple of the Cardinals' program since 2019, Adams started in 82 of her 83 games throughout her career in San Antonio. She logged 7,185 minutes with two goals and two assists during her tenure.  

Adams earned selection to the SLC All-Academic Second Team and Preseason All-Conference Second Team in back-to-back seasons (2021, 2022).