The Lael Swank Memorial Scholarships were presented prior to the Crestwood High School football team’s annual Iron Man competition held June 29.
The 2023 recipients are Cole Kakalecik, Robert Knight, John Jones and Noah Schultz.
Kakalecik, Knight and Schultz will be furthering their academic and football careers at Wilkes University in the fall. Jones will be furthering his academic and football careers at Springfield College in the fall.
The scholarship is awarded in memory of the late Lael Swank who passed away from breast cancer in March of 2020. Swank battled breast cancer for 10 years. She was a longtime supporter of Crestwood football as well as other Crestwood and Mountain Top sports teams.
Her son Garrett, a Crestwood football alumnus, also played football at Susquehanna University. Her son Jason is a member of the Crestwood football team.
The scholarship is awarded annually to senior members of the Crestwood football team who is in good academic standing with a minimum GPA of 3.0 and will attend and play football at a non-Division I (FBS) school. Those eligible programs include FCS (formerly Division I-AA), Division II, Division III, NJCAA and NAIA.
The award is in the amount of $2,500 and will be one-time and non-renewable, paid directly to the student or family. Recipients are selected by a committee consisting of Crestwood’s head football coach, Crestwood Director of Athletics and Randall Swank.
Since the inaugural awards were granted in 2021, the scholarship program has paid a total of $14,000 to eight former Crestwood football players.
