Five Athletic Training Students Awarded Scholarships in Honor of Weber, Ferrell

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Dean Weber, second from left, meets with recipients of the Weber and Ferrell scholarships Jill O’Brien, Craig Skinner, Katelyn Bishop, Jaime Hall and Julie Suits

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Five athletic training education students won scholarships honoring longtime Razorback trainers Dean Weber and the late Bill Ferrell, the University of Arkansas announced Saturday.

Jill O'Brien of Seattle won both the Weber and Ferrell scholarships. The Weber scholarship is presented to the top student in the athletic training education program, a graduate degree program in the university's College of Education and Health Professions.

The other four Ferrell scholarship winners are Katelyn Anne Bishop of Centreville, Va., Jaime Hall of Coloma, Mich., Craig Skinner of Alto, Texas, and Julie Suits of Mesquite, Texas.

O'Brien, Bishop, Hall and Suits are all working with the Razorback football team for their clinical rotation this semester. They will be on the sidelines this evening when the Razorbacks take on Eastern Michigan during Homecoming. Skinner is currently working with the Razorback baseball team.

The students were congratulated during a pregame event Saturday morning at University House on the Fayetteville campus. In attendance were many of the seniors from the 1979 Razorback football team who created the award in honor of Weber, who is now the director of equipment operations in the department of athletics. Following the 1979 team's lead, the Razorback Foundation and Jim Lindsey created another award in memory of the late Bill Ferrell, longtime athletic trainer and baseball coach. Members of the Ferrell family and representatives of the college, the university and the athletic department also attended the event.

Lindsey, Weber and Tom Smith, interim dean of the College of Education and Health Professions, offered remarks to the audience that numbered nearly 100.

The 1979 Razorback football team had one of the great seasons in school history. They were called “a team without stars” because of their focus on team accomplishments rather than individual recognition.

At their 25^th reunion celebration in 2004, the seniors decided to commit themselves as a group to a project that would have a lasting effect and further strengthen their bond. They established three goals for their project, and all three were met: to continue their practice of achieving 100 percent participation as a group of 14 teammates, to give back to the University of Arkansas, and to honor their good friend Weber for his friendship and his years of service and dedication to the university and the many student-athletes under his care.

The Razorback A Club – a group comprising former athletes and lettermen – and Lindsey worked together to raise money in memory of Ferrell, the longtime athletic trainer and head baseball coach at the university.

Lindsey, former chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees and a member of the 1964 National Championship football team, agreed to match the money raised by the club members.

The scholarship winners:

• Jill O'Brien of Seattle is a 2004 graduate of Mt. Rainier High School in Des Moines. She earned her undergraduate degree in kinesiology from California Polytechnic State University. She is the daughter of Linda and Robert O'Brien.
• Katelyn Anne Bishop of Centreville, Va., is a 2003 graduate of Westfield (Va.) High School. She earned undergraduate degrees in public relations and exercise and health promotion from Virginia Tech. She is the daughter of Patricia and Douglas Bishop.
• Jaime Hall of Coloma, Mich., is a 2004 graduate of Coloma High School. She earned her undergraduate degree in communications from Spring Arbor University in Michigan. She is the daughter of Janice and Mike Cade and is married to Ben Hall.
• Craig Skinner of Alto, Texas, is a 2003 graduate of Alto High School. He earned his undergraduate degree in exercise and sport sciences from Texas Tech University. He is the son of Linda and Rollie Skinner.
• Julie Suits of Mesquite, Texas, is a 2004 graduate of Mesquite High School. She earned her undergraduate degree in health science from Stephen F. Austin State University. She is the daughter of Diane and James Suits.