The Lincoln Track Club awarded three $2,500 scholarships totaling $7,500 to local high school track and field athletes for the fifth consecutive year on Sunday, June 3. Scholarship recipients must be from the Lincoln/Lancaster County area and plan to compete in cross country and/or track and field at the collegiate level.The LTC established the scholarship program in 2013 to assist area track and field athletes with college expenses as athletic scholarship funds for track and field athletes are limited. Scholarships were first awarded in 2014 to six athletes in the amount of $1,000. Beginning in 2014, the amount was upped to $2,500 for up to six recipients. Since 2014 the LTC has awarded $53,500 in scholarships to twenty-five athletes. Lincoln East has the most scholarship recipients at nine with Lincoln Pius X in second with four recipients. Lincoln High, Lincoln Northeast, Lincoln North Star, Lincoln Southeast, Lincoln Southwest, and Waverly each have two.“The mission of the Lincoln Track Club includes promoting the sport and giving back to Lincoln for supporting our events. Providing scholarships is one area we felt could make a significant impact to encourage these athletes to continue with the sport at the next level,” said Glen Moss, LTC president. “Awarding scholarships to these outstanding student athletes is one of the highlights for the Lincoln Track Club Board of Directors. Each recipient is very deserving of this honor, and I look forward to following their collegiate careers.”The scholarship recipients for 2018 are Erin Mapson, Luke Nolley, and Sydney Settles.Running challenged Erin Mapson to try pole vault as a junior at Lincoln East. Jump forward to the 2018 Nebraska State Track and Field Championships where she ended her career with a third-place finish and a new school record. Her vault of 11’6” broke a sixteen-year-old school record. In just two years as a Spartan pole vaulter for coaches John Gingery, Brian Kabourek, and Chris Johnson, she has six career wins and will pole vault at Concordia University. Erin will major in fitness studies with a career goal to work with athletes as either an athletic trainer or a coach. She plans to use this scholarship to help cover the cost of tuition in order to dedicate more time to academics and athletics.The leadership skills Luke Nolley learned through running will help him as a future officer in the U.S. Air Force. As a member of the Lincoln Southwest cross country and track and field teams, he was one of the leaders for coaches Brett Schuster and Ryan Salem. As a senior, he led the Silverhawks to runner-up finishes in Class A at the state championships in cross country and track and field. He had a sixth-place finish in cross country and was second in both the 1600m and 3200m runs at state track. Luke will attend the Air Force Academy and run cross country and track while majoring in engineering or a science-related field. He plans to use the scholarship to cover expenses for a laptop and textbooks.Sydney Settles feels running is an art that pushes her to do her best. A two-sport letter winner at Lincoln North Star for Coach Matt Musiel, she is a two-time state qualifier in cross country and qualified in the 3200m run at the state track and field meet. She is also the only Gator to deny the nickname bestowed upon her as a freshman. Sydney will run cross country and track at Chadron State College where she will major in parks recreation, environmental studies, and wildlife biology. She plans to use this scholarship to pay part of her tuition and/or her meal plan.