The sixth annual Marry Jennings Softball Tournament, in honor of the former Seton Hall soccer player, will be held April 14 at Ivy Hill Park. The tournament annually raises money through the tournament and other activities to help fund the scholarship in her name.
Jennings played on the women's soccer team for two seasons from 2004-05 after missing her freshman year with a torn ACL. However, in June of 2006 Jennings passed away after a battle with cancer. Jennings would have graduated in 2007.
"Going into her final semester, when she passed away, her classmates were devastated by how quickly everything happened," Manina Urgolo Huckvale, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Education and Human Services, said. "The following semester, Dr. Daniel Katz and I met with the students because they truly wanted to keep Mary's memory alive. They thought the best way to do so was endow a scholarship."
The scholarship is given out each year to a student in the College of Education and Human services who embodies the spirit of life and learning that Jennings exhibited.
"I think it's great that this is the one solid thing that keeps on giving back to the Mary Jennings Memorial Scholarship Fund," Amanda DiDnoato, Associate Director of Academic Support Services for Student-Athletes, who was also a friend and teammate of Jennings, said. "That's important, and I also think this can bring student-athletes together. I think it's important to unite behind a cause, any cause, but I think this is good. She was one of our own, so it's nice to commemorate her."
The tournament will consist of 16 teams with 10-16 players per team in a double elimination format.
Stephen Valenti can be reached at Stephen.valenti@student.shu.edu
