Hasselbeck, Walker Win BC's Scanlan Award

Matt Hasselbeck, a quarterback from Norfolk, Mass., and Omari Walker, a running back from Mansfield, Mass., have been named co-winners of the Thomas F. Scanlan Award as the outstanding senior scholar-athletes on the 1997 Boston College football team.

The Scanlan Award, named in honor of Thomas F. Scanlan '20, a former Eagle football player and five-time Varsity Club president, is presented each year to the senior football player(s) who best exemplify Scanlan's qualities as scholar, athlete, gentleman and friend. It is Boston College's highest football honor.

The awards will be presented at the annual Boston College Varsity Club Scanlan Award Dinner to be held on Sunday, November 23, at noon in Lyons Hall on the Chestnut Hill campus.

Hasselbeck, the Eagles' starting quarterback for the last two seasons, will finish his career as one of the top five passers in B.C. football history. He currently has 3,878 passing yards in his varsity career, and has thrown for 200 yards or more on nine occasions during the past two seasons.

Walker is currently the No. 3 all-time rusher at Boston College with 2,387 yards. He has scored 32 rushing touchdowns for the Eagles - the most of any running back in the history of the BIG EAST Conference.

Their accomplishments in the classroom are equally impressive:

Matt was graduated from B.C.'s Carroll School of Management last May with a degree in marketing. He spent his final year of football eligibility studying for a master's degree in business administration, and posted a fine 3.78 grade point average in the first semester of his graduate program. He recently was named winner of a "Burger King Scholar-Athlete Award" and a $10,000 donation to Boston College's general scholarship fund was made in his name.

Omari also received his bachelor's degree - in English - from B.C.'s College of Arts & Sciences at graduation ceremonies last May, and has been using his final year of eligibility to pursue a master's degree in education. After his first semester of graduate study, he had an outstanding 3.82 GPA.

Both young men have outstanding records in community service. Omari, who is also married and the father of two young children, spent last summer directing a reading improvement program for Boston school children. As part of his post-graduate curriculum, he is currently practice teaching in the Boston Public Schools.

As an academic senior, Matt was chosen to receive Boston College's "St. Ignatius Award for Student Involvement" - a university-wide honor. He has also served with the B.C. Chaplains' Office Ignatio Volunteer Program, a service project for the poor in Jamaica; the First-Year Experience Program; and is a member of B.C.'s Student-Athlete Advisory Board.