Scholarship created in memory of late Griz player Kole Swartz - Billings Gazette
The Clinton family and the University of Montana Foundation on Tuesday announced the Kole Swartz Legacy Scholarship, named in honor of Sean and Jennifer's 19-year-old son and UM student-athlete who lost his life in March. The scholarship will be presented annually to a defensive player on the Grizzlies football team who was born in the state of Montana, just as Kole was. "At its core, Montana football is and always will be Montana boys," Sean said in an emotional news conference in UM's University Center before announcing the scholarship's first recipient: Kalispell Glacier graduate Evan Epperly, Kole's roommate... He was a teammate of Kole's during the Montana East-West Shrine Game and Montana-North Dakota All-Star Game after the pair graduated from high school in 2014. The scholarship, which grew out of more than 350 private donations over the past weeks,... Kole Swartz was an all-state defensive end for Missoula Hellgate before joining the hometown Grizzlies and wearing jersey No. 92 during his redshirt season last fall. His funeral five days later packed Washington-Grizzly Stadium with 1,500 attendees, including dozens of former teammates in their Montana maroon and Hellgate crimson. Source: billingsgazette.com
