CHAPEL HILL – Julia Skelton of Tuscola High School in Waynesville and Andrew Wanovich of Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville have been named winners of the fifth annual Charles Adams Endowed Scholarships awarded by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
The two outstanding student-athletes will be recognized at the NCHSAA’s Annual Meeting on May 1 at the Dean E. Smith Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The scholarships are made possible through the generosity of donors to the fund in honor of the long-time NCHSAA executive director, who retired in 2010 after 42 years with the organization. He was inducted into the NCHSAA Hall of Fame in 2009 and is also the only North Carolinian ever to serve as president of the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Skelton has participated in cross country, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field and swimming during her career at Tuscola, with the 1500 meters her primary event in track.
Julia has compiled a 4.52 grade point average, serving as vice-president of the Math Club and earning a spot in the National Honor Society while taking a host of Advanced Placement and honors courses. She has been involved in a variety of church and community activities and even helped spearhead a successful drive to raise money for new uniforms for the women’s cross country track and field team at her school.
She will continue her education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Wanovich is an outstanding wrestler who qualified three times for the NCHSAA state championships and has served as captain on the Britt wrestling team, which for the last two years finished second in the state dual team championships.
The outstanding Jack Britt student-athlete has a 4.71 grade point average as part of his school’s Integrated Systems Technology Academy, a selective engineering-based academy. He is a member of the Key Club, National Honor Society and Military Appreciation Club and is a member of his church youth group.
He plans to attend North Carolina State University and the College of Engineering at NCSU.
One scholarship award annually recognizes a male wrestler in memory of Charlie and Sue’s son Scott, who was the first individual wrestler from Chapel Hill High School to compete in the state wrestling championships. One goes to a female cross-country runner in honor of Charlie’s daughter Michelle Adams Szwajkun, who participated in cross country at Chapel Hill and ran on the 1984 state championship team. Each recipient receives a $1,500 scholarship to further his or her education at the college level.
"We are pleased to honor Charlie and his family with these scholarship awards and are proud of the accomplishments that these recipients have achieved," said Davis Whitfield, commissioner of the NCHSAA.
