LA QUINTA, Calif. (July 20, 2008) - The Jim Murray Memorial Foundation's (JMMF) 2008 Murray Scholars have been selected as the result of a nationwide essay competition.  Seven journalism students will be honored at the JMMF 10th anniversary “Tribute to Living Legends of Sports and Media” dinner on Thursday evening, October 30, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, Calif.

Each Murray Scholar receives a $7,500 scholarship based on second and third year print journalism student eligibility and a written essay.  Journalists who determined the 2008 winners were J.A. Adande, ESPN.com; Dan Bickley, The Arizona Republic; Mike Harris, Associated Press; Jill Painter, Los Angeles Daily News; Leo Roth, Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle; Kevin Sherrington, Dallas Morning News; and Mike Vaccaro, The New York Post.

The 2008 scholarship winners are Kyle Austin, Syracuse University; Kyle Goon, University of Maryland; Ryan Haney, Trinity College-Hartford; Alex Herbach, University of Southern California; Bill Oram, University of Montana; Michael Sanserino, Indiana University; and Mark Viera, Penn State University.

The Philip Merrill College of Journalism at University of Maryland is a first-time JMMF scholarship winner.  University of Southern California welcomes its fifth Murray Scholar, Penn State University, University of Montana and Indiana University each embrace a second scholarship winner, while Syracuse University proudly announces its third Murray Scholar. Trinity College-Hartford, Jim Murray's alma mater, receives a JMMF scholarship annually.

Linda McCoy-Murray, president and founder of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation said, “After nine years of cultivating the crème of the crop at prestigious journalism schools in the nation, it is exhilarating and heartwarming to see how our family of Murray Scholars grew to 63 this year. The Murray Scholars inspire each other to strive for a higher standard in their writing and journalistic integrity.  They are marvelous ambassadors for the Foundation.”

McCoy-Murray established the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation to perpetuate her late husband's memory and his love and dedication to his extraordinary career in journalism.  Murray, who died August 16, 1998, began his illustrious career at the New Haven [Conn.] Register after graduating Trinity College [Class of '43], Hartford, Conn.  After a stint at the now extinct Los Angeles Examiner, he joined Time & Life [now Time, Inc.]  In 1954, while Hollywood cinema correspondent for Time magazine, Murray became one the founders of Sports Illustrated.  Joining the Los Angeles Times in 1961, Murray won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1990, and won the National Sportswriter of the Year Award 14 times.  Murray's outstanding work landed him a spot in the writers' wing in Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.

For more information on the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation and/or the JMMF 10th anniversary “Tribute to Living Legends of Sports and Media” dinner, email info@jimmurrayfoundation.org or MurrayScholars@aol.com.