Paton earns USTA scholarship

FAIRFIELD — Tess Paton, a 2022 graduate of Fairfield High School, has earned a scholarship award of $5,000 as one of the 10 regional recipients of the Novo Nordisk Donnelly Scholarship, which is awarded by the United States Tennis Association.

These scholarships are awarded to students who answered an essay question as to how their life has been affected by diabetes, and who are entering a four-year college or university program.

Paton battled with diabetes throughout her senior season, but overcame the ailment enough to earn a spot at the state singles tournament with a second-place finish at the regional meet.

The scholarship is named in honor of Tracey Donnelly Maltby and Diane Donnelly Stone. They, along with their father, Bud Donnelly, all played Division 1 collegiate tennis while affected by the challenges of Type 1 diabetes.

Tracey played singles and doubles for four years at the University of Iowa and received All Big Ten honors. Diane was a three-time All-American and 1987 NCAA Doubles champion at Northwestern University and will be inducted into the 2022 ITA Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame. Bud played singles and doubles for four years at Western Michigan University and won six individual Mid-American Conference titles. Novo Nordisk, a global health care company that’s been making innovative medicines to help people with diabetes for nearly a century, has been the title sponsor of the award. The scholarship is also supported by Dexcom, Cecelia Health, and Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc.

In all, the USTA awarded over $435,000 in college scholarships. There were 46 student-athletes who received awards from the USTA in 2022.

Paton, a three-time state qualifier and two-time Southeast Conference champion for the Trojans, plans on attending Iowa State University. She does not plan on playing on the ISU team.