MOREHEAD, Ky. -- One of the highest honors in the OVC and a namesake of a notable Morehead State alum has been earned by a Morehead State student-athlete this year.
Women's Golfer
MacKenzie Neal has been bestowed the Steve Hamilton Award. The Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award is given annually to an league male or female student-athlete of junior or senior standing who best exemplifies the characteristics of the late Morehead State student-athlete, coach and administrator Steve Hamilton.
She is the second-ever winner from MSU, joining Kandi (Brown) Parker who was the honoree in 2003-04.
Also the winner of a similar honor in Morehead State's Laughlin-Miller Award, Neal became one of only three players in program history to earn four consecutive All-OVC awards. She has also been a four-time Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar (program requires 3.5 GPA or better) and a four-time OVC Medal of Honor winner. Neal earned the OVC Scholar-Athlete honor in 2021-22.
Neal has compiled most community service hours of any student-athlete at Morehead State this year. She earned four consecutive MSU Department of Science Dean's List honors and won the Morehead State University Celebration of Student Scholarship Exceptional merit poster presentation award. She is a four-year member of the MSU Pre-Medicine Club and was an officer for two years in that club
Neal has been a five-year member of the MSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She has participated in MSU's Nine and Dine Fundraiser, which has raised money for Eastern Kentucky flood victims
She is a member of MSU's Tri-Beta Biology Club. Neal has volunteered in MSU's Learning and Tutoring Center as a peer tutor, and she volunteered for White House clinic physician shadowing program. She works at Boone's Trace Golf Club during summer breaks. She won the PJ Boatwright Golf House Kentucky Summer Internship award.
Neal has also volunteered for Feed My Starving Children program at Eastside Baptist Church, packing meals for children across the world. She is a member of the Southeast AHEC STEPS Program for aspiring physicians and has participated in genetics research in MSU's Mefford Lab.
