Murnane Scholarships Raised to $5000
Since 2017 the Kevin Murnane Scholarship has distributed $11,000 to North Tahoe High School seniors. These students have all had a close connection to our cross-country ski community and we are proud that contributions made in honor of Kevin have helped these students take a step towards reaching their life goals.
Scholarship Increase
Starting this year, the Kevin Murnane Scholarship, which is administered by the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, is upping its game by increasing the scholarship from $1000 to $5000. This $5000 award will be given to up to two North Tahoe High School student-athletes who “demonstrated selflessness, decency and good nature within our community.” Applicants must be graduating seniors from North Tahoe High School and have participated in a Nordic ski program at Tahoe XC, ASC Training Center, Far West or the North Tahoe Middle or High Schools. Applications are due by March 31st and are available at ttcf.net (Look for the Scholarship Section).
The Kevin Murnane Scholarship is an amazing opportunity for our local students to get a jump on post-graduation expenses while honoring the memory of Kevin Murnane and the spirit of community at Tahoe XC that he helped to create. We look forward to offering this scholarship opportunity to North Tahoe seniors for years to come!
Remembering Kevin
For those of you who didn’t know Kevin, he was the manager of Tahoe XC from 1999 to 2015. He was a great friend to everyone who came through the door of Tahoe XC, and to those of us who worked with him, every day he is dearly missed. He was a creator of great memories: I knew him as my cookie eating competitor, rubber band shooter, disorganized whirlwind around a waxing bench and innovator of grand and glorious ideas like a pulk sled locker, maps on the trails, and a new fangled contraption on skis that included a grill and the rest of the necessary items for an on-snow party. Mostly he was a good friend who made it fun to work here.
One of my favorite memories of Kevin was the time he hooked the grill up to a snowmobile and dragged it out to the Orange hut to make tacos for all the Strider Gliders coaches. We ate and laughed then skied back to the lodge underneath a glorious bright pink and purple sunset.
Kevin would be super proud of this scholarship. He loved watching the children of Tahoe playing on Tahoe XC trails every afternoon. He’d be happy to know those little tykes who played with his kids have grown, and are off doing amazing things with their lives, and the folks of this community helped a little bit to make that happen in his honor.
You may know a few or all of the past recipients:
- 2022 - Ben Cutler / Jake Hacker
- 2021 - Kili Lehmkuhl / Lili Murnane
- 2020 - Casey Garrity / Guthrie Goss
- 2019 - Cooper Anderson / Max Roske
- 2018 - JC Schoonmaker / Jake Incan
- 2017 - Quinn Lehmkuhl / Kristen Galant
- 2016 - Brynn Anderson / Kaya Williams
Kevin Murnane (1970-2015) believed in quality coaching and establishing strong youth Nordic programs in the Tahoe region. He served as manager of Tahoe Cross-Country for 15 years and brought passion and enthusiasm to the sport of Nordic skiing. To honor him, and his good character, we established the memorial student scholarship and coaches grant. To learn more about Kevin and our memorial fund drive, running March 15-31, visit here.