LTCC grad honored with Gene Upshaw scholarship during American Century Championship

LAKE TAHOE, Nev.-A recent graduate from Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) was honored during last week's American Century Championship with the $10,000 Gene Upshaw Memorial Scholarship Fund Award.

The annual award is presented during the celebrity golf tournament in honor of Upshaw who played in 15 of the events, then had to withdraw from the 2008 American Century Championship as he became sick, and died of pancreatic cancer not long after, in October 2008.

The year following his untimely passing, Gene's widow Terri started the annual scholarship to award local students since Lake Tahoe was such a special place for the couple, as well as their home.

"This was his place to escape from work and all the pressures of his job to be in a community that he loved," said Terri. "He absolutely loved Tahoe, loved the people of both north and south of the lake and really embracing the community here."

This year's awardee was Kettja Bennett. She graduated from LTCC this spring with an associate’s degree for transfer, and emphasized her studies in math and science, achieving an impressive overall GPA of 3.59. She is now taking Calculus 3 classes before starting at the University of Nevada, Reno, this fall. She aims to earn her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

It was Kettja's story that touched Terri and NBC as they honored her during a press conference.

"It does my heart good to be able to do something like this for somebody like Kettja, who's worked so hard and she's been an inspiration and to get a chance," said Gary Quinn, NBC VP of Programming and General Manager Owned Properties.

Kettja said growing up was not easy for her. Her birth mother had mental illnesses, was an addict, and she didn't know who her father was. When she was six years old, Kettja and her younger sister went into foster care and she was adopted just before turning 12. Since she was out of foster care by the time she turned 13, Kettja did not qualify for the foster youth financial aid in college. She worked full-time while at LTCC, currently as a field manager for CHIPS Forestry, where she oversees forestry crews performing vital fuel reduction work.

During the presentation, Kettja said she wants a home and a good job so she can create a secure home for her future family.

"The reason why college is so important to me and this scholarship is I think my degree in mechanical engineering is definitely going to let me get to that point of life," said Kettja.

Upshaw was a first-round draft pick by the Oakland Raiders where the played from 1967-1981, winning two Super Bowls and playing in six Pro Bowls. Like fellow American Century golfer Jerry Rice, Upshaw made it to the Super Bowl in three different decades, though Upshaw was the first player to do so. After playing, he was the executive director of the NFL Player's Association.

Gene was admitted to the hospital in Truckee just three days before passing away, not knowing he had pancreatic cancer. Terri started a foundation in his name as well as the cancer center at Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee.

"So his untimely passing, obviously shocked us all," said Quinn. "The first thing that came to mind was how do we keep his legacy going in this community because he's been a fabric of it for years and I wanted that to continue. And I wanted people like Kettja, who might not know that he was an unbelievable Hall of Fame football player and leader of the NFL Players Association, to do research on why this is named after Gene Upshaw and to do that homework and at least carry on his legacy, was most important."

Kettja researched who Upshaw was as she was applying for the scholarship. She said learning about him was an "instant motivation" for her.

"It was a light switch of motivation for me to keep going and to finish out the last quarter," said Kettja. "I think I was about halfway through spring quarter at Lake Tahoe Community College, a bunch of stuff was piling up with work, finding a new place to move into, and things like that, so it was kind of like perfect timing. Not only has this scholarship helped me financially, but it's also really helped me just get that motivation back and continue forward."

"I can always look back on this day and also when I was writing the scholarship, learning about Gene, it could always just help me move forward with that," said Kattja. "I'm really thankful to be here today and to receive this scholarship and most importantly, learn about Gene and actually meet Terri. That's awesome."

"Kettja, your character is off the charts," said Quinn. "I don't want to speak for Terri, but you're a part of our family from now. You're a part of the NBC Sports American Century and Gene Upshaw family."