One of the most rewarding aspects of being a member of the Bucks County Roadrunners is the chance to recognize some of the top student-athletes in the area.
The Great Strides Scholarship offers a scholarship of $2,500 each year to a male and female deserving recipient.
This year, the honors have gone to Julia Rhodes of Council Rock South High School and Evan Morrow of Central Bucks South High School.
These scholarships recognize their dedication to running and how they’ve developed skills through running that will be applicable to their studies, community and future careers.
“We are incredibly proud of Evan and Julia and excited to see what they will achieve in the future,” said Tim Bulat, scholarship administrator of the Bucks County Roadrunners. “Their stories demonstrate the powerful impact that running can have on personal growth and development, and ultimately how that development can positively impact others around them.”
Rhodes has shown exceptional perseverance, overcoming extremely frustrating injury challenges, to pursue her passion for running.
After moving to Pennsylvania in third grade, Rhodes found solace and confidence in her track team. Despite stress fracture injuries that required surgery and extensive recovery, she never gave up on her dream.
When she was unable to run, she remained part of the track team and participated in the throwing events and served as motivation for her entire team. Her dedication earned her the team captain title during her senior year. Finally, healthy again in her senior year, Rhodes had several competitive running successes.
According to her coach, Ken Worthen, “Julia is by far the toughest competitor I have coached in 52 years. Never a complaint or looking for sympathy, she does her job on the track, enjoys competition and is the team’s biggest cheerleader.”
Alongside her athletic achievements, she has excelled academically, publishing her research in a scientific journal and actively engaging in advanced psychological studies. This fall, she will attend the Rutgers Honors School and plans to walk on to the track team.
Morrow has demonstrated consistent passion throughout his running career. In his essay, he describes the feelings of curiosity and determination that fuel his runs, saying, “I bring this curiosity with me everywhere I go, and it comes alive when I lace up my trainers.”
Morrow’s dedication is evident in his leadership roles as captain of his cross country and track teams and his impressive academic achievements, maintaining a better-than 4.0 GPA with eight AP courses.
He has also balanced his academic and athletic commitments with a job at a local running store, further demonstrating his passion for the sport and his strong work ethic. Morrow’s commitment to running and academics will continue this fall at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where he will join the cross country and track teams while studying aeronautical engineering.
Rick McGarry, the owner of the running store where Morrow works, wrote, “At one point in the last year, I jokingly called Evan a ‘rocket scientist’ for all of the (technical) problems he helped me solve and he calmly said, ‘Yeah, that’s my goal in life.’”
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