Amari McMahon and Anjali Fernandes, two standout Buckeyes, are Ohio State’s recipients of the 2020 Big Ten postgraduate scholarships.
One male and one female student-athlete from each Big Ten institution who plan to continue their education at a graduate degree program were awarded a $7,500 scholarship, based primarily on academic achievements.
This year’s recipients span 18 different sports and will continue their education in a variety of different disciplines, including accountancy, biomedical engineering, business, chemical and biological engineering, chemistry, dentistry, economics, law, optometry and medicine.
Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics.
McMahon joined the Ohio State football team as a walk on in 2017 and recently graduated with his degree in biology. He plans to attend Ohio State’s College of Dentistry in the fall.
A standout in the classroom, McMahon is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and Ohio State Scholar-Athlete. He was also a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in the 2018-19 academic year for having a grade-point average of 3.7 or better.
In addition to the Big Ten’s Postgraduate Scholarship, McMahon also received Ohio State’s Corwin A. Fergus Award, which is a $5,000 scholarship that is renewable for up to three years.
As a walk-on running back from Dublin, Ohio, Scioto, McMahon joined the Buckeyes in 2017 and became a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
On the field, McMahon was a member of three Big Ten championships teams and can forever boast a 38-4 combined record as a Buckeye. He played on teams that won the 2017 Cotton Bowl, 2019 Rose Bowl, earned three pairs of gold pants and appeared in the 2019 College Football Playoff.
Interestingly, McMahon took his one career carry for 10 yards against Miami (Ohio) in 2019, giving him a team-leading 10.0 yards-per-carry average for the season.
Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics.
Fernandes is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, a four-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete and a 2019 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. The coxswain for the Buckeyes’ 1V8 team, Fernandes helped guide the boat to a second-place finish at the 2019 Big Ten Championships and a sixth-place finish at the 2019 NCAA Championships.
In 2017 and 2018, Ohio State won the Big Ten team title. Fernandes was also a 2018 Women’s Elite 4+ Club National Champion in 2018.
In addition to several Big Ten and Ohio State academic awards, she also was named a 2019 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Scholar Athlete and she also earned CRCA Pocock Second Team All-America recognition.
In 2018, Fernandes was a Wexner Medical Center Student Research Intern worked with Dr. Alexa Meara studying patient numeracy and its effects on the severity of systematic lupus erythematosus.
Fernandez received two other awards in the spring of 2020, the Varsity “O” Alumni Society Postgraduate Scholarship and the Leann Grimes-Davidge Award. The Perrysburg, Ohio, native graduated this spring with a degree in English literature with a minor in biology.
What follows is the complete list of 2020 Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship recipients:
Illinois
Michael Paradise, Men’s Gymnastics
Lauren Smitherman, Women’s Soccer
Indiana
Sean Caulfield, Men’s Soccer
Michelle McKamey, Women’s Tennis
Iowa
Claire Graves, Women’s Soccer
Jason Kerst, Men’s Tennis
Maryland
Johannes Bergmann, Men’s Soccer
Darby Moore, Women’s Soccer
Michigan
Thomas Cope, Men’s Swimming & Diving
Erika Yasuda, Women’s Rowing
Michigan State
Scott Piper, Men’s Swimming & Diving
Karrigan Smith, Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field
Minnesota
Jacob Herbers, Football and Baseball
Zetta Mason, Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field
Northwestern
Allison Lindroth, Volleyball
Charles Maxwell, Baseball
Nebraska
Grace Mitchell, Women’s Basketball
Luke Siedhoff, Men’s Track & Field
Ohio State
Anjali Fernandes, Women’s Rowing
Amari McMahon, Football
Penn State
Mason Nadeau, Baseball
Jade Rowland, Women’s Fencing
Purdue
Susan Hubbard, Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field
Dylan Lydy, Wrestling
Rutgers
Rebecca Chanin, Women’s Rowing
Kieran Mullins, Men’s Lacrosse
Wisconsin
Eric Geunes, Men’s Swimming & Diving
Heather Rudnicki, Softball
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