Annie Mitsak of Towson High School and Adam Metzger of Owings Mills High School are this year's recipients of the Mildred Murray Scholar-Athlete Award and Scholarship, a $1,000 check earmarked for college tuition given to a male and a female student in the Baltimore County school system.

Mitsak competed in soccer, cross country, basketball and track and field, while Metzger competed in soccer, wrestling and lacrosse. Both achieved a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

Requirements for eligibility include a minimum 3.5 unweighted GPA for each quarter and participation in at least two varsity sports. Based on these criteria, each high school in the county nominates a male and a female student for the award.

Then a panel reviews the applications, whittles the list of nominees to five for each gender and selects the winners in what is generally a tough process given the qualifications of the applicants.

"It's a very difficult process because these kids are all so awesome," said Jill Masterman of the county Office of Athletics. "You look for the little differences between the applications."

The annual award is named for Mildred Murray, who served as Baltimore County coordinator of athletics and physical education for more than 30 years before retiring in the late 1980s.

"She and Baltimore County athletics were synonymous for quite a while," said Masterman. "She saw us through an awful lot of changes, including Title IX," which prohibits gender discrimination.

In the fall, Mitsak and Metzger will continue their studies at the University of Virginia and University of Maryland, College Park respectively.