2017 Ms. Mountaineer Savannah Lusk and Mr. Mountaineer Garrett Burgess
West Virginia University has named Garrett Burgess and Savannah Lusk the 2017 Mr. and Ms. Mountaineer. A Mountaineer Week tradition, the award recognizes student’s exemplary academic achievement and extracurricular involvement.
Burgess and Lusk were announced as this year’s honorees during halftime of the WVU vs. Oklahoma State football game today (Oct. 28) at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Burgess, an Honors College student majoring in political science and Russian studies from Elkview, has been endorsed by WVU for the prestigious Rhodes and British Marshall scholarships. He is the president of the WVU Model United Nations team and Russian Club, a wing commander of the Air Force ROTC Detachment, and serves as a student ambassador for the Eberly College. Burgess is sponsored by the WVU Aspire Office.
Lusk, an exercise physiology major from Covel, is also a member of the Honors College and the first Foundation Scholar from Wyoming East High School. She is the president of Helping Hands WVU and served as the 2016 alternate Mountaineer Mascot. Lusk is a member of the West Virginia School of Medicine Class of 2022. She is sponsored by the WVU Honors College.
Other Mr. Mountaineer finalists were: Tanner Filben of Glen Dale, Ahmed Abdul Haque of Bridgeport, Trevor Kiess of Elkins and Hunter White of Clendenin.
Other Ms. Mountaineer finalists were: Megan Barthelmess of Hurricane, Morgan King of Charleston, Brenna Leasor of Morgantown and Rachel Lynn Sager of Irwin, Pennsylvania.
In addition to the Mr. and Ms. Mountaineer presentation, WVU’s Most Loyals were honored. The 2017 honorees are: Dr. Ronald Wilkinson, Most Loyal West Virginian; Jon Hammock, Most Loyal Alumni Mountaineer; Mannon Gallegly, Most Loyal Faculty/Professional Staff Mountaineer and Barbara Bodkins, Most Loyal Classified Staff Mountaineer.
The Most Loyal West Virginian and Alumni Mountaineer awards have been presented since 1974, while the Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineer award was created in 1994 and split into two separate awards in 2001. The award recipients are chosen by a joint committee representing the WVU Foundation, WVU Alumni Association, and the Mountaineer Week organizing committee.
-WVU-
cs/10/28/17
CONTACT: Sonja Wilson,
Mountainlair
Sonja.Wilson@mail.wvu.edu; 304.293.2702