FARMVILLE, Va. – For the fifth year in a row, Longwood and Dr. Ray Gaskins have partnered together to recognize and reward student-athletes for their success both in the classroom and on the playing surface.
On National Student-Athlete Day, two new Lancers join a select group of student-athletes who represent achievement at the highest levels:
Matthew Lyons, '27, from Longwood men's golf, and
Feline van Eijkelenburg, '27, from Longwood women's tennis. The duo earned the Dr. Ray Gaskins Award For Academic Excellence in Athletics.
"Moments and opportunities like this are part of what make Longwood so special," said Longwood Athletics Director
Tim Hall. "Seeing our student-athletes succeed both in the classroom and on the playing surface, and then seeing the community showcase its support, it highlights the best that college athletics has to offer. Academics are at the heart of what we do, and we are grateful to Dr. Gaskins for his support that continues to provide avenues for our student-athletes to be successful."
"It started when I realized that the scholar-athlete individual in that they had to use time management in order to perform as well in the classroom as they did on the athletic field," said Dr. Gaskins. "So I was really impressed with that, and that's one of the reasons I started this. No actually asked me to do it. I came up with the idea myself. But they were delighted when I did."
Lyons excelled for Longwood as a freshman on the golf team two seasons ago, including a top 25 finish at the Big South Championship. He was a Big South All-Freshman Team selection and finished fourth on the team, and 17
th in the Big South, in scoring average.
During the year, he also won The Manor Invite and had a top 10 finish at the VSGA Intercollegiate.
After a successful summer, he was lined up for a strong sophomore campaign, but an injury derailed the season before it could begin.
Off the course, Lyons Lyons has been a Dean's List honoree for a GPA above 3.50 in all three of his semesters at Longwood, and he is majoring in business administration with a concentration in management and finance.
Van Eijkelenburg, meanwhile, was an All-Big South Second Team selection last season as a freshman, earning second team honors in both singles and doubles. As a doubles player, she went 8-8, and she added four singles wins.
This season, she already has seven doubles wins, and she has added three singles wins as well, including the clinching win at home on senior day for the Lancer women to beat George Washington.
Off the court, she has earned President's List honors once for a perfect 4.0 GPA while also earning Dean's List recognition twice. She is majoring in physics.
The
Dr. Ray Gaskins Award for Academic Excellence in Athletics provides two scholarships of $3,500 that will be applied to each student-athlete's tuition for the coming academic year.
Gaskins, a longtime Longwood basketball season-ticket holder, has funded scholarship opportunities for Longwood students involved in various aspects of student life and pursuing several different areas of study.
Among the scholarships established by his gifts are the
Dr. Ray A. Gaskins Basketball Scholarship, awarded to a member of the Longwood men's basketball team;
The Dr. Ray A. Gaskins Cross Country and Track & Field Scholarship; The
Mrs. Bessie M. Land Gaskins Teacher's Scholarship, awarded to a student who plans to become a teacher;
The Dr. Ray A. Gaskins Math & Computer Science Scholarship, awarded to a student majoring in either math or computer science;
The John Allen Gaskins Scholarship, awarded to a student majoring in the College of Business and Economics;
The Elsie M. Small Scholarship, awarded to a student majoring in the College of Education & Human Services;
The Beverly Gaskins Vincent Scholarship Fund, also awarded to a student majoring in the College of Education & Human Services; and the prestigious
Gaskins Scholar, a four-year full ride scholarship awarded to a student in the Cormier Honors College.
A 1972 graduate of Virginia Tech who earned his Ph.D. in statistics, Gaskins is a career educator who was a member of the mathematics and computer science faculty at Hampden-Sydney College for 27 years.
"To know that now the students have a fair shot at graduating without any student loan debt," Gaskins said about his continued support to a variety of causes at Longwood. "Because I was able to do that, and I think it is really great for any student who graduates to be able to graduate debt-free."
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