BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – University of Arkansas graduate midfielder Elizabeth (Bea) Franklin was named the 2023-24 Southeastern Conference H. Boyd McWhorter Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced Tuesday.
Franklin and Ole Miss men's tennis player Jackson Martingayle were selected by a committee of Faculty Athletics Representatives from all 14 SEC institutions and will receive a $20,000 post-graduate scholarship.
“Lukas and Elizabeth are amazing young people who are an inspiration for their commitment to the complete student-athlete experience of success in competition and excellence in the classroom,” Sankey said. “Their achievements make them the ideal recipients of the H. Boyd McWhorter Award, the highest individual honor a student-athlete can achieve in the Southeastern Conference. Lukas and Elizabeth personify the highest of standards in the SEC for their combination of academics and athletics and I congratulate them and the institutions they proudly represent.”
Franklin, a finance major, carried a 4.000 GPA and was named both SEC and College Sports Communicators (CSC) Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2023. She is a two-time president of the SEC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and a CSC Academic All-American.
“As further demonstrated by her selection for this prestigious honor, Bea Franklin is among the best and the brightest at the University of Arkansas and throughout the Southeastern Conference,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek said. “Bea is the quintessential student-athlete and the personification of the extraordinary potential of Razorback student-athletes to succeed on the field, in the classroom and within our community. Our core mission is Developing Champions and Razorbacks for Life. Bea not only embraced those opportunities as a Razorback but made the most of them. Congratulations Bea on this amazing honor. Your Razorback Family is proud of you!”
This past season, Franklin led Arkansas to its fourth SEC Championship in the last five years and was named First-Team All-SEC and SEC Midfielder of the Year. During the 2023 campaign, she led Arkansas in goals (9), assists (9) and points (27) and led the SEC in points (27) and assists (9). She also helped guide the Razorbacks to consecutive Elite 8 appearances in 2021 and 2022.
A member of the United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region andAll-America teams, Franklin was selected by the Chicago Red Stars (3rd round, 41st pick) in the 2024 NWSL Draft.
“In our program, we talk about opportunities and what we do with them is up to us,” Arkansas Head Soccer Coach Colby Hale said. “Bea Franklin took the opportunities that Arkansas afforded her and ran with them. She earned All-America honors, was named the SEC Midfielder and Division I Scholar-Athlete of the Year, played on our women’s basketball team, was selected in the NWSL Draft and received numerous other accolades. She is a special person and we are truly grateful she is a Razorback!”
Franklin is the first SEC soccer player to receive the award since 2004 and the first Razorback to be honored since 2015.
About the McWhorter Award
The SEC provides the league’s male and female McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients with a $20,000 post-graduate scholarship. The 26 remaining male and female finalists for the award will also receive a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship.
The award recipients are chosen by a committee of Faculty Athletics Representatives from the 14 SEC institutions and are announced in May, as well as honored by the league membership at SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Florida.
University of Arkansas H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year Recipients
1999 - Jessica Field (Volleyball)
2002 - Tiffany Woolley (Softball)
2015 - Nathanael Franks (Track & Field)
2023 - Bea Franklin (Soccer)