Matthew Citak and Anthony Tripodoro, entering freshman at Vanderbilt University, have been selected as the 2011 co-recipients of the 53rd Fred Russell-Grantland Rice TRA Scholarship for sports writing, according to a release from the Thoroughbred Racing Associations.
Citak and Tripodoro were selected from 109 applicants for this year’s scholarship in the amount of $20,000 per year for four years each at Vanderbilt. The scholarship is co-sponsored by Vanderbilt University and the TRA and is awarded to an outstanding high school senior with special interest and potential in the field of sports writing. The TRA represents 48 member racing associations conducting Thoroughbred racing at 41 racetracks in North America. The scholarship winners weere selected by a panel chaired by Oaklawn Park President Charles J. Cella.
The scholarship honors Vanderbilt alumni and distinguished sports writers Grantland Rice and Fred Russell. Initially, the scholarship was created in 1956 to honor Grantland Rice, the dean of American sports writing, who died in 1954. The scholarship received a funding endowment from Cella on behalf of the TRA in 1986, and its name was amended to include the late Fred Russell, the famed Nashville Banner sports columnist for 69 years.
Citak is a graduate of Horace Mann School in Riverdale, N.Y., where he served as the sports editor and writer for the school publication, Manhattan Review, along with being the editor of The Score, a school sports magazine. He played junior varsity soccer as a freshman in high school, moving up to varsity in his final three years, and was starting goalkeeper during his junior and senior years. He was named to the New York Post All Bronx Soccer Team and the All Ivy League Soccer Team in 2010 as well as receiving the Horace Mann Coach’s Award. He will be a communications major at Vanderbilt and hopes to pursue a career in sports broadcasting or sports journalism.
Tripodoro, a graduate of Chaminade High School in Mineola, N.Y., was heavily involved in his school’s newspaper, Tarmac, serving as managing editor and sports editor before being named editor-in-chief as a senior. In addition to being on the Honor Roll all four years in high school, he was one of only seven finalists for the National Merit Scholarship from Chaminade.
He is interested in many subjects, including English, journalism, psychology, sociology and history, but hopes to focus on economics as his target area of study. His goal is to work as an attorney, journalist, or in the financial industry.
Fred Russell-Grantland Rice TRA Sports Writing Scholarship Winners
Year Recipient
1956 Charles D. Nord
1957 Thomas E. Templin
1958 Larry G. Daughtrey
1959 Roy Blount Jr.
1960 Saxon Kim Chapin
1961 Thomas D. Quinn
1962 Robert E. Theil
1963 Richard S. Osborne
1964 Leonard Goldstein
1965 Michael Kiernan
1966 William Livingston
1967 Barry M. Morris
1968 Dennis P. McAuliffe
1969 David R. Rapp
1970 Skip Bayless
1971 John I. Bloom
1972 Irving Muchnik
1973 Kevin E. Cuneo
1974 Kevin McDonald
1975 David Brooks
1976 Michael L. Jackson
1977 Edward O. Wilson
1978 Charles C. Euchner
1979 Kenneth C. Ray
1980 Zachary V. Wenger
1980 Andrew Byer
1981 Charles R. Bush
1982 Mike Cornwell
1983 Tena Bozicevic Herlihy
1984 Thomas J. Wilson
1984 Chuck Manson
1985 Paul J. Richman
1986 Michael Holmes
1987 David Sheinin
1988 Andrew Maraniss
1989 Mitchell Light
1990 Clay Hensley
1991 Matthew O’Keefe
1992 Andrew M. Derr
1993 Tyler Kepner
1994 Allan L. Owen
1995 Lee Jenkins
1996 Not Awarded
1997 Daniel J. Wolken
1998 Samuel H. Heide
1999 Jeffrey D. Lowe
2000 Matthew James Meenan
2001 Robert Craig Murray III
2002 Byron Patrick Dubow
2003 Matthew Collins McDavid
2004 Christopher F. Callaway
2005 Not Awarded
2006 Not Awarded
2007 David A. Namm
2008 Meghan Rose
2009 Eric Single
2010 Jack Kuhlenschmidt
2010 Jackson Martin
2011 Matthew Citak
2011 Anthony Tripodoro
