2025 Dr. Judith Benscoter Female Athlete Scholarship winners
It’s a three-peat for Wyoming Area and Michigan State University, as Class of 2025 senior Ella Mckernan secured first place in the third Female Athlete News scholarship competition.
The new rules of the competition were announced in February. The contest began Thursday, March 13 and ended Sunday, March 16.
FAN changed the model from a website vote, which required $10 to vote one-time, to a two-part competition. The original model was administered the past two years.
The Class of 2025 edition was open to female athletes in Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Michigan, who played high school field hockey in the Fall of 2024. The student-athletes must also have committed to playing at the Division I, II, or III level.
Contest rules explained that there were two parts to the contest: a 500-word essay, describing how field hockey has affected the athlete’s academics, as well as an Instagram video of ‘Hockey in 60 seconds.’ Both were put to a community vote.
The videos, which were featured on FAN, LLC’s Instagram, accounted for 50 percent of the athlete’s total vote and the essay was 50 percent.
“We think this is a way to help market the athletes,” CEO and founder Jana Benscoter said. “Our platform is used to promote personalities, talents, sport, and to connect people with like-minded individuals with the hope that the increased exposure will also help female athletes to be seen by other potential NIL partners in the future.”
The female athletes who secured the most votes both via website voting and Instagram are as follows:
1st: Ella McKernan, Pennsylvania (Wyoming Area, Michigan State University), $5,000
2nd: Jordan Byers, Pennsylvania (West Perry, University of Iowa), $500
3rd: Mo Gerber, Pennsylvania (Carlisle, Converse University), FAN swag
3rd: Anyia Woods, Virginia (Nansemond River, University of Iowa), FAN swag
“With us being a start-up, and as we grow, we’ll evaluate, based upon feedback, how we will administer the scholarship,” Benscoter said. “We added a $500 cash scholarship for second place, and FAN swag for third. There ended up being a tie for third, and the FAN organization was inspired by a fourth athlete. We are going to mail her a care package before she departs for college.”
The athlete selected by FAN as an honorable mention is Valerie Palmiotti of Pennsylvania (Oley Valley, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute).
“We are just over two years old and are continuously looking for ways to highlight these tremendously talented female athletes,” Benscoter said.
The first FAN scholarship recipient was Bianca Pizano (Class of 2023). She was followed by Nina Angeli (Class of 2024). Both athletes graduated from Wyoming Area and attend Michigan State University.
The scholarship is both athletic and academic. The first payment is provided to the student-athlete before departing for college. The second payment is paid after the athlete’s first semester and proof of a 3.5 grade-point-average.
Both athletes excelled academically.
To view the athletes’ Instagram videos, please visit our page.