NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt football graduate student-athlete Khari Blasingame has been selected as the 2019 Arthur Ashe Jr. Male Athlete of the Year and senior Kristin Quah earned recognition as the winner for women’s bowling, the publication Diverse: Issues in Higher Education announced on Monday.
Blasingame finished his Vanderbilt career as a valuable four-year letterwinner for the Commodores. The Huntsville, Alabama, native played in 48 games, arriving as a linebacker before switching to running back. In Blasingame’s final season, he ran for 401 yards and five touchdowns while adding 25 catches for 320 yards and a score. Blasingame helped Vanderbilt reach two bowl games during his last three seasons and capped his career with three consecutive victories over rival Tennessee.
Off the field, Blasingame earned a bachelor’s degree in medicine, health and society in May 2017 and is currently working toward a master’s of education from Vanderbilt’s Peabody College. He carries a 4.0 grade-point average in graduate studies in leadership and organizational performance. Blasingame has landed on the dean’s list four times and the SEC Academic Honor Roll five times. His career goal is to become a leader in healthcare administration.
Blasingame, also nominated for the SEC H. Boyd McWhorter Award and the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, has been involved in numerous off-field activities as a student-athlete at Vanderbilt, including Camp Vandy, the Nashville Rescue Mission, Impact with Backpacks and Walk for Wishes. He has been an active member of Vanderbilt’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
As recipient of Male Athlete of the Year, Blasingame will be profiled in the April 4 edition of Diverse.
Quah, a senior from Singapore, Singapore, is a three-time All-American for Vanderbilt and one of the nation’s best spare shooters. She helped the Commodores win the Southland Bowling League in 2017 before playing a key role in Vanderbilt’s NCAA title in 2018. Last season, Quah made three all-tournament teams and took the top individual spot in the Sam Houston tournament. Prior to Vanderbilt, Quah was a member of Singapore’s national team from 2011-2015.
Quah is a double major in biomedical and electrical engineering, and last season she won the NCAA’s prestigious Elite 90 Award at the 2018 NCAA Bowling Championship for having the highest GPA (3.95) of all competitors. Quah is a seven-time honoree on the Vanderbilt dean’s list, a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient and a nominee for the SEC H. Boyd McWhorter Award. In 2018, she won the Biomedical Engineering Society’s Undergraduate Student Design and Research Award. Next year, Quah will pursue her Ph. D. while doing MRI research at Stanford University.
The senior has been an active participant in SAAC at Vanderbilt and taken part in the group’s holiday party and field day, which benefit Nashville-area elementary schools. Quah has also volunteered with Feed the Children and served as a department tutor at the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt.
The annual Ashe Award recognizes outstanding minority young men and women who have distinguished themselves in their academic and athletic pursuits. Alongside athletic accomplishments, students named 2019 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars maintained a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5, be a sophomore academically and be active on their campuses or in their communities.
