CLEVELAND — Former South Dakota State University quarterback Taryn Christion has been selected as one of two recipients of the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association's Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.
Christion, along with Kennesaw State quarterback Chandler Burks, were selected out of a field of seven finalists and 47 FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team honorees to receive a $5,000 postgraduate scholarship. It is the second postgraduate scholarship Christion has been awarded; he was one of 13 recipients of an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship from the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame for being named a finalist for the 2018 William V. Campbell Trophy.Â
Christion and Burks will be honored during the FCS ADA's annual awards luncheon, which will held in conjunction with the NACDA Convention June 10-12 in Orlando, Florida.
"It is a great honor to be selected for this award out of so many great student-athletes around the country," Christion said. "This scholarship will help me keep building upon my education and help me be even more prepared for life after football. I am very grateful for this because without it, I do not know if I would have the opportunity to attend graduate school. I am very proud to receive this award and am honored to have been chosen."
A native of Sioux Falls, Christion was a three-time finalist for the STATS FCS Walter Payton Award, which is presented annually to the top offensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision. He holds 19 school records, including setting SDSU and Missouri Valley Football Conference career records for passing yards (11,535), passing touchdowns (104) and total offense (13,050 yards). A two-year team captain, Christion helped lead the Jackrabbits to FCS playoff appearances each of his four seasons, including back-to-back national semifinal appearances in 2017 and 2018.
Christion has maintained a 3.61 grade-point average while majoring in business economics. Off the field, he helped organize a local youth flag football league through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and aided in coordinating SDSU's Be The Match on-campus bone marrow registry drive the last two years.
Christion is the fourth Jackrabbit student-athlete to be named a winner of the FCS ADA Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in the 18 years of the program, joining Cory Koenig (2007), Ryan Berry (2008) and Zach Zenner (2014).