Fers Erzen, Plain Named McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year Nominees

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Texas A&M's Anze Fers Erzen of the men's swimming & diving team and Grace Plain of the cross country/track & field team have been nominated for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship. The H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship has been presented by the Southeastern Conference since 1986 to the league's top male and female scholar-athletes.

Fers Erzen boasts a 4.0 cumulative GPA while working toward his degree in psychology and has qualified for NCAA Championships in each of the last three seasons. He has been honored as a two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American and was named to the SEC First Year Academic Honor Roll and the Athletics Directors Honor Roll last season after coming to Aggieland following two seasons at Iowa. A native of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Fers Erzen has served as a student lab assistant, running experiments on language and memory with human subjects and was a participant in the Horizon Performance – Emerging Leaders Program. The senior has also volunteered with Sleep in Heavenly Peace, AggiesCan, Salvation Army and REVved Up to Read at Spring Creek Elementary.

A team captain in his final collegiate season, Fers Erzen was invited to compete at NCAA Championships in the 400 IM, while also qualifying in the 200 IM and 200 fly. He was named to the All-SEC Second Team after earning silver in the 400 IM at SEC Championships this season and holds top five times in program history in the 200 back (1:40.31), 200 fly (1:42.55), 200 IM (1:43.29), and 400 IM (3:39.05), while also holding a top-10 time in the 100 back (46.83).

Plain will graduate from A&M with a degree in nutrition and minors in communication and psychology, boasting a 3.75 cumulative GPA. Upon graduation, she plans on attending the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry with hopes to serve in the Dental Corps in the United States Air Force. The McKinney, Texas native is on the SAAC Executive Committee as Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion and has been a SAAC Rep for her team each of the last two years. Plain has been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll every semester since Fall 2019, while also garnering numerous selections to the Athletics Director Honor Roll.

A key scorer on the cross country team the past few seasons, Plain has also set personal-best times in the mile, 3K and 5K indoors in 2023. She placed ninth at the SEC Outdoor Championships in the 10K last year in Oxford, while grabbing the bronze medal in the event at the Texas Relays. She ranks seventh all-time at Texas A&M in the 5,000 meters indoors and 11th in the event outdoors, as well as 10th in the 3000 meters (indoors) and 12th in the 10,000 meters (outdoors).

The league will name the 2022 recipients of the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship in early May.

The SEC provides the league's male and female McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients with a $20,000 post-graduate scholarship. The 26 remaining male and female finalists for the award will also receive a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship. The award recipients are chosen by a committee of Faculty Athletics Representatives from the 14 SEC institutions and are announced in May, as well as honored by the league membership at SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Florida.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Anze Fers Erzen

Grace Plain

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