Megan Klose of Arcadia and Jonathan Nielsen of Clemson each will receive a $10,000 Jim McKay Scholarship, awarded by the NCAA to college athletes who demonstrate achievement in sports communications or public relations or hope to contribute to the field.
Klose, a softball player for the Knights, graduated in May with a degree in media and communications: public relations. Nielsen, a golfer at Clemson, graduated in May with a degree in sports communications.
The McKay Scholarship was created in 2008 to honor pioneer sports journalist Jim McKay. The recipients are selected by the NCAA Walter Byers Scholarship Committee.
Megan Klose
Klose finished her undergraduate studies with a 4.0 GPA and received second-team All-Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom honors after finishing the season with a .333 batting average in 2024.
Klose served as a team captain the past two seasons and worked in the school's athletics communications department.
She will return to her hometown of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to work as a social media account specialist for a digital marketing agency.
"My long-term goal is to one day work in sports communications for an MLB team," Klose wrote in her McKay Scholarship essay. "Having worked in minor league baseball before, I have found a love and burning passion for baseball and working in the league. With the completion of a master's program in this field, I will gain valuable experience and knowledge to propel me forward."
Jonathan Nielsen
Nielsen ended his undergraduate studies with a 3.80 GPA and finished tied for 40th after 54 holes in the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships this season.
Nielsen, who transferred to Clemson after attending East Tennessee State and Carson-Newman, is a native of Copenhagen, Denmark. The first semester of his college career was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, but he used that time to focus on academics.
He plans to obtain a master's degree in sports communication to achieve a long-term goal of being involved with a sports organization at the professional level.
"Without having college golf to shape my personal values of integrity and dedication, I am
uncertain I would have been as successful in academics," Nielsen said. "The correlation between athletic and academic performance is undeniable in my journey through college, and I will continue pursuing excellence in all areas because of this."
