UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State senior student-athletes Jessica Jones (women's gymnastics) and Gavin Turner (men's fencing) have been awarded Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarships.
Jones and Turner were each awarded a $7,500 scholarship by the Big Ten Conference.
Jones competed in 13 meets during her Nittany Lion career. She won three career event titles, earning a floor title as a freshman against North Carolina State and beam and all-around titles at Arizona State. Jones competed in two meets in 2017 before suffering an injury but persevered to compete in an exhibition on bars against Michigan this year. The Ohio native was a two-time recipient of the team's Kelly Streicher Heart of a Lion Award. She was a three-time NACGC/W Scholar Athlete, a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and was a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in 2018. As a member of the Nittany Lions, she served as the team's representative for the Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB) and served on the Special Events Committee through SAAB and is part of the Athletic Director's Leadership Institute.
Jones graduated from Penn State with a degree in kinesiology and a 3.78 cumulative grade-point average. She studied movement science as part of her major and minored in Psychology. Jones will be pursuing a Clinical Doctorate in Occupational Therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University. She was a member of the Dean's List every semester. Last summer, Jones worked as a personal care aide at the Easter Seals Child Development Center in State College. This past semester, Jones was an intern at The Oaks in Pleasant Gap, an assisted living facility, where she taught the Healthy Steps in Motion exercise class and helped with running activities and daily operations.
Turner is coming off a solid season in the men's foil for the Nittany Lions. Turner went 21-15 in dual meet action this year and competed in the Mid-Atlantic/South Regional Championship tournament, placing 16th. Turner earned four letters for Penn State and amassed an 86-34 overall record, including a 28-4 mark as a sophomore. Turner is an Academic All-Big Ten honoree as well.
As a member of Penn State's Schreyer Honors College, Turner posted an outstanding 3.95 cumulative GPA. He pursued a major in Science (Biological Sciences and Health Professions) with a minor in Spanish. For the last two years, he has been a research assistant for a biochemistry faculty member on campus. In addition, to seek life-changing learning opportunities, he participated in a Semester at Sea program around the island of Puerto Rico during which he conducted an original research project on the environmental impacts of phytoplankton biodiversity.
