Citak & Tripodoro Awarded 2011 Russell-Rice TRA Scholarship

July 25, 2011 - Matthew Citak and Anthony Tripodoro will enter the freshman class at Vanderbilt University as the 2011 co-recipients of the 53rd Fred Russell-Grantland Rice TRA Scholarship for sports writing, it was announced by the Thoroughbred Racing Associations (TRA) Monday.

Citak, a graduate of Horace Mann School in Riverdale, N.Y., and Tripodoro, a graduate of Chaminade High School in Mineola, N.Y. were selected from 109 applicants for this year’s scholarship in the amount of $20,000 per year for four years each at Vanderbilt.

Named in honor of two legendary sports writing alumni of Vanderbilt, the scholarship has an extraordinary record of producing prominent and successful writers and television personalities, including Roy Blount, Jr., Bill Livingston, Skip Bayless, John (Joe Bob Briggs) Bloom, David Sheinin, Tyler Kepner, Lee Jenkins, and Daniel Wolken.

Citak served as the sports editor and writer for the school publication, Manhattan Review, along with being the editor of The Score, a school sports magazine. He played junior varsity soccer as a freshman in high school, moving up to varsity in his final three years, and was starting goalkeeper during his junior and senior years. He was named to the New York Post All Bronx Soccer Team and the All Ivy League Soccer Team in 2010 as well as receiving the Horace Mann Coach’s Award.

He will be a Communications major at Vanderbilt and hopes to pursue a career in sports broadcasting or sports journalism.

Tripodoro was heavily involved in his school’s newspaper, Tarmac, serving as managing editor and sports editor before being named editor-in-chief as a senior. In addition to being on the Honor Roll all four years in high school, he was one of only seven finalists for the National Merit Scholarship from Chaminade.

He is interested in many subjects, including English, journalism, psychology, sociology and history, but hopes to focus on economics as his target area of study. His goal is to work as an attorney, journalist or in the financial industry.

The scholarship winners, selected by a panel chaired by Oaklawn Park President Charles J. Cella, have distinguished themselves not just in sports writing and broadcasting, but in other fields as well.

The four-year scholarship is co-sponsored by Vanderbilt University and the TRA and is awarded to an outstanding high school senior with special interest and potential in the field of sports writing. The TRA represents 48 member racing associations conducting Thoroughbred racing at 41 racetracks in North America.

The scholarship honors Vanderbilt alumni Grantland Rice and Fred Russell, two of the greatest sports writers of all time. Initially, the scholarship was created in 1956 to honor Grantland Rice, the dean of American sports writing, who died in 1954. The scholarship received a funding endowment from Mr. Cella on behalf of the TRA in 1986, and its name was amended to include the late Fred Russell, the famed Nashville Banner sports columnist for 69 years and a mentor to many of the scholarship winners.