Ole Miss Athletes Cammy Niesen, Gabe Scales Nominated for SEC Scholar-Athlete Award

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Ole Miss seniors Cammy Niesen of volleyball and Gabe Scales of men’s track and field and cross country have been nominated for the SEC H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship, the Southeastern Conference announced Thursday.

The award has recognized the league’s top male and female scholar-athletes since 1986. Recipients receive a $20,000 postgraduate scholarship, while 30 finalists for each gender earn $10,000. Winners are selected by a committee of Faculty Athletics Representatives from SEC schools.

Niesen, a chemical engineering major, finished her volleyball career as Ole Miss’s all-time leader in digs with 1,853. Her performance ranks among the top in SEC history within the conference’s all-time top-10. She was a four-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week and won the SEC weekly award once. Niesen set an Ole Miss single-match digs record with 39 against Arkansas and was part of the first Rebel team to win an NCAA Tournament match in 2024. She was named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in volleyball in 2024 and earned honorable mention on the AVCA All-South Region team that same year.

Scales, a member of Ole Miss’s men’s track and cross country teams, is a three-time SEC scorer. He was part of the silver-medal distance medley relay team indoors this season. His personal best in the 1500 meters outdoors is 3:41.38, ranking ninth all-time at Ole Miss. He also ranks ninth in the DMR (9:30.34) and 14th in the mile (4:00.15). Scales graduated with a degree in biological science in May 2025 and is pursuing a certificate in intercollegiate athletic administration. He has earned multiple academic honors, including four SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll selections and two USTFCCCA All-Academic honors.

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