Meridian High School senior Zaniya Rush decided to apply for the Calvin D. Hampton “CHAMPion” Memorial Scholarship back in November when she found out it was being created.

Hampton, a Meridian alumnus and former head football coach at the school, was killed in a motor vehicle accident in November 2020. Friends and family of Hampton wanted to honor his memory by providing a college fund to a high school senior in the Meridian and Lauderdale County school districts, and Rush said she eagerly filled out an application.

“I knew Coach Hamp, and I felt like if I got it I would have a connection to him and do well in school for him,” Rush said.

Saturday evening, Rush was named the recipient of the inaugural scholarship at a banquet. Each year, the scholarship will award a senior student-athlete with college aspirations who attends high school within the two public school districts in Lauderdale County, and Rush said she plans to put the money to good use.

“Some kids can’t go to college because of their financial situation,” said Rush, who plays volleyball and softball for Meridian. “Now I won’t have to worry about my mother and father getting into debt in order to send me to college, so this is a huge blessing.”

Mark Davis, Meridian’s softball coach, said he was pleased to see Rush be awarded the inaugural scholarship and that the honor was well-deserved.

“I know Coach Hamp is smiling down on us right now because they couldn’t have picked a better person than Zaniya,” Davis said. “She’s the most humble kid I’ve ever been around. She works extremely hard, doesn’t complain and is overall a great teammate.”

Rush said she interacted with Hampton during her earlier years at Meridian when he was still the school’s football coach, and she feels good being the first recipient of a scholarship named in his honor.

“He was very persistent,” Rush recalled with a laugh. “If he saw you doing something wrong, he would tell you it was wrong and then show you how to do it right. He was like a father figure. A lot of kids looked up to him. Even I looked up to him.”

While she hasn’t decided which school she’ll attend yet, Rush said she has additional scholarship offers from Southern Miss and West Alabama and will pick between those universities. She plans to major in athletic training.