Doug Williams Memorial Scholarship

 

2025 Doug Williams Memorial Scholarship

We are very pleased to announce this year’s winners of the Doug Williams Memorial Scholarship who each received a check for $1,000 at the Montclair High School Senior Awards Ceremony held on Thursday, June 12.

  • Darriel Whiting

  • Corinne Stewart

We would like to thank everyone who supported the memorial run in Doug’s honor or who made a donation with a special thank you to Fleet Feet Montclair for their continued support of the scholarship. It is presented each year in memory of Doug who was a graduate of Montclair High School and a beloved member of the Essex Running Club when he was killed by a hit and run driver on Upper Mountain Ave in October 2011.

Recipients of the scholarship are selected from the graduating class at Montclair High School based on the following criteria:

  • Outstanding participation in track and field / cross country

  • Academic excellence

  • Leadership and community service

  • Expected participation in track and field / cross country at college

Darriel and Corrine have been outstanding athletes at Montclair High School competing in indoor track and outdoor track. They will both be continuing their athletic careers on the University level.

Montclair High School Coach Washington and his staff prepared the following comments:

Darriel Whiting (Lincoln University)

Darriel has been a leader on both the winter & spring track and field since her freshman year. Granted freshman year it was just through her actions and talent following behind a talented upperclassmen group. But she willingly came into the role sophomore year and rolled it into junior year; getting athletes to come to offseason training, leading warmups, rallying all groups to support one another and communicating issues to the coaching staff so that we can all get better as a team. On top of this Darriel also led the cheer team, staying committed to them for 4 years while working hard to do off season track training. Darriel also has multiple school records, ranked in the top 5 in multiple events. She also has multiple conference, county, sectional and group championships and multiple all conference, county, sectional, group, state and all-American recognition from her freshman through senior year. In a time where everyone is about personal gains/gratification, this young lady understands the meaning of "we" and truly embodies the infamous quote "a rising tide lifts all boats."

School Records: 55m dash, 300m, Sprint Medley Relay

Top Ten in School History: 100m, 200m (winter & spring), 400m, (winter & spring), 4x100, 4x200, 4x400.

Corinne Stewart (Tufts University)

We have watched Cori blossom into both an amazing athlete and person over the past four years. She joined the program her freshman year as a blank canvas and has matured into the talented athlete that she is today. Cori has set the standard for what a captain is. Not only does she lead on the track but she leads in the classroom and amongst her peers. SheDou never asks a teammate to do something that she won’t do herself and through the years she has helped the team standout due to her excelling in every event from the 400m up to the 5k. She has engulfed herself in setting goals and pushing through obstacles to achieve them.

During her four years she has broken school & conference records, won conference, county & state championships and lead teams to national competition. She has truly set the tone across the board for what hard work looks like as her presence has been strong and consistent and has pushed her teammates to be better.

School Records: 800m(indoor), Sprint Medley Relay

Top 10 in School History: 400m, 800m (spring), 1600m, (winter & spring), 4x400, 4x200, 4x400.

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Congratulations to both Darriel and Corinne on this very well-deserved award! We wish them all the best in their college careers. This is the 14th year we have awarded these scholarships and they join the past winners listed below with the colleges they attended.

2024 - Avery McAdams (Emory University) and Sean Overton (McGill University)

2023 - Ava Butler (Ithaca College) and Richard Fortune (New Haven University) 

2022 - Reuven Frye (Bates College) and Kiya Lawson (Howard University)

2021 - Stephanie Webb (Lehigh University) and Jessie Legister (Northeastern University)

2020 - Evelyn Battleson-Gunkel (University of Chicago) and Aidan Ward (Wesleyan University)

2019 - Matilda Ferguson (Swarthmore College), Eleanor Keating (Haverford College) and Stefan Urquidi (Jefferson University)

2018 – Elizabeth Cummings (Towson University) and Dale Ross (Wesleyan)

2017 - Amelia Lufrano (Dickinson College) and Benjamin Cahill (Wesleyan)

2016 - Lia Schattner (Washington University) and Grant Van Inwegen (Wesleyan)

2015 – Stephani Hayes (Lehigh University) and Connor O’Brien (Rutgers)

2014 – Eliana Tyler (Vassar College) and Henry Whipple (Hamilton College)

2013 – India Hill (Widner University) and Jackson Brietzke (West Point)

2012 – Carole Johnson and Henzley Meghie