BIRMINGHAM – Hatton High School senior Eva Armstead and Montgomery Academy’s Rob Ashworth were named the Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Foundation’s 2026 state Student Achievement and Scholar-Athlete award recipients at Monday night’s 41th annual Bryant-Jordan Student Athlete Awards Banquet held at the Sheraton Ballroom.
Armstead received the Ken and Betty Joy Blankenship Student-Achievement Award and Ashworth received the Larry Striplin, Jr., Scholar-Athlete Award, and as the overall state recipients. The Achievement award was being presented for the 38th consecutive year. A total of 104 high school regional senior honorees were recognized and awarded more than $500,000 in scholarships through the Bryant-Jordan program annually.
The scholarship program, named in honor of the late coaches Paul “Bear” Bryant of Alabama and Ralph “Shug” Jordan of Auburn, recognized 52 regional scholar-athlete winners selected for their excellence in athletics and academics and 52 achievement winners chosen for their ability to compete in athletics while overcoming major obstacles during their high school careers. Eight students in each category were selected as regional winners in Classes 1A through 6A. Four regional winners in each category were selected from school nominations in Class 7A. Each of the 104 regional winners received a $3,000 scholarship. the 14 Class winners received an additional $3,500; and for each overall state winner, the stipend received was an additional $4,000…