HARFORD COMMUNITY COLLEGE: Two Harford Community College Student-Athletes Receive Bruce Hart Memorial Scholarships

By Press release submission

Jun 20, 2018

Harford Community College issued the following announcement on June 14.

The Bruce Hart Memorial Scholarship, a scholarship available through the Harford Community College Foundation, was presented to two student athletes at Harford Community College. Ja Nari Lee and Rachel Wilson received their scholarship certificates at a presentation ceremony held on June 13. A $1,000 scholarship is awarded to a male and female student currently playing lacrosse for the Fighting Owls.

Ja Nari Lee is a freshman from Aberdeen. He graduated from Aberdeen High School where he was the captain of the lacrosse team. He was an All-Conference and All-UCBAC selection Attackman in his senior year at Aberdeen. Head coach Aaron Verardi says he is one of the hardest workers and best teammates the program has ever had. Verardi describes Ja Nari as “a key returning member of our team who leads by example on and off the field.” He played in nine games this year and scored two goals as a midfielder. He finished with a 3.2 cumulative GPA this year.

Rachel Wilson is a freshman from Havre de Grace. In high school, she was awarded the Al Cesky Scholarship and the Judith Resnick Award. She is a pre-nursing major at Harford and finished the year with a 3.5 GPA. In her freshman year at Harford, she made the All Maryland JUCO, All Region, and NJCAA First Team All American teams for the 2018 season. In addition, she was named Most Valuable Offensive Player for the Regional Tournament and the NJCAA Women’s Lacrosse player of the Week in April. She has been a great asset to the team.

The Bruce Hart Memorial Scholarship was established by his family to help others reach their full potential through education and lacrosse. The scholarship honors the memory of Bruce Hart, a lifelong advocate and leader in Harford County. While teaching at Bel Air High School, he started the lacrosse program for Harford County Public Schools. An accomplished lacrosse coach, his teams won three Harford County lacrosse championships, two Baltimore County lacrosse championships, and one district/regional lacrosse championship. Bruce served 18 years in the Army National Guard and retired as Lieutenant Colonel Brevet when he was injured in an automobile accident in January 1984 that left him a quadriplegic. His injury did not stop him as he continued as head coach of Edgewood High School JV boys’ lacrosse and then moved on as defensive coach at Harford Community College.

Bruce believed in the game of lacrosse and the power of having student-athletes use the sport as a tool to learn and develop lifelong foundational character traits that lead to personal success and individual achievement.

The scholarship is awarded to one male and one female lacrosse player at Harford Community College in their second year who possess such distinguished qualities as reliability, preparedness, work ethic, passion and unselfishness both on and off the field. To be eligible for the award, a student must be enrolled full-time at HCC and maintain a 2.75+ GPA.

Original source can be found here.