Winning big

Wichita-area students, including the daughter of a WSU faculty member, were big winners when it came to winning scholarships to Wichita State recently.

The winners of the $44,000 Clay Barton Scholarship in Business, which is the largest scholarship in Kansas, the $40,000 Gore Scholarship, along with the $20,000 Gore runner-up scholarship, and the $25,000 McGregor Scholarship were young women with outstanding academic records and full plates when it comes to extracurricular activities.

Tiffany Pankratz, a senior and varsity cheerleader captain at Wichita East High School, won the Barton Scholarship. She is part of East’s rigorous international baccalaureate program run by Wichita State University alum Dan Umansky.

Another East High IB student, Saideh Eftekhari won the Gore Scholarship, along with Lindsay Sutton of The Independent School in Wichita. This was the first time in several years that two recipients for the Gore Scholarship were named. Ashley McCracken from Campus High School in Haysville, will receive a $20,000 scholarship as the Gore runner-up.

Laura Stevenson of Derby High School, the daughter of chemistry professor William Stevenson, won the McGregor Scholarship.

All had competed, along with more than 230 students, in the WSU’s Distinguished Scholarship Invitational in November. Pankratz also competed with more than 40 students in a separate contest for the Barton Scholarship.