CHAPEL HILL – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2018-2019 Pat Gainey Student Award, providing scholarship support for two student-athletes with a focus on need-based applicants. This year’s recipients are Ashlyn Williams from Clinton High School and Christopher Arnold from Walter H. Page High School in Greensboro. Each recipient receives a $5,000 scholarship award and a commemorative plaque when they are presented at the NCHSAA Annual Meeting held May 2, 2019 in Chapel Hill.
Ashlyn Williams – Clinton High School – Clinton, NC
Ashlyn Williams is a senior at Clinton High School where she has had a stand out career in both Soccer and Basketball. Williams was a member of the 2017 2A State Champion Clinton Women’s Basketball Team while chalking up a long list of individual awards in soccer and basketball. Outside of athletics, Ashlyn is a member of the National Honors Society, Key Club, and Student Government. She has been accepted to several colleges including: William Peace University, East Carolina University, University of North Carolina Wilmington, University of North Carolina Charlotte, and the University of Alabama. She plans to study Biology at her university of choice.
Christopher Arnold – Walter Hines Page High School – Greensboro, NC
Christopher Arnold is a senior at Walter Hines Page High School in Guilford County. He has played baseball all four years of his high school career and was team captain his junior and senior seasons. Outside of athletics, Arnold is a member of the Marching Band and has volunteered as a Teacher’s Assistant at the Greensboro Science Center. He has been accepted to Methodist University and the University of Lynchburg and he plans on majoring in Kinesiology.
ABOUT THE PAT GAINEY STUDENT AWARD
The Pat Gainey Student Award is given annually by the NCHSAA through a private donation from Pat Gainey’s daughter, Berry Jo Gainey Shoen. The Gainey Student Athlete Scholarship Award was established to recognize “Athletic Achievement and Strength of Character.” A scholarship is presented annually to a senior female athlete and a senior, Male baseball player attending NCHSAA member high schools located within counties of limited financial resources.
Pat Gainey was a native of Dunn, N.C. and a phenomenal women’s basketball coach in several different coaching stops during his career. His teams compiled an incredible 93-6 record during his time as the women’s basketball coach at Pamlico where he also fielded outstanding baseball teams. He then moved to Taylorsville where he coached from 1955 to 1964. His women’s basketball teams collectively won five Western North Carolina High School Activities Association titles and at one point recorded 54 consecutive wins and 140 straight conference victories. His overall women’s basketball career mark was 358-57.
