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Smith, Veratti Named 2024 Heidrick Family Scholarship Recipients
6/26/2024 11:45:00 AM | Men's Soccer, Track & Field, Athletics
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke student-athletes Brianna Smith (women's track and field) and Krew Veratti (men's soccer) were named recipients of the Heidrick Family Leadership Post Graduate Scholarships, the Blue Devils Athletics Department announced Wednesday.
The Heidrick Family Leadership Post Graduate Scholarships were established through a generous gift by Bob Heidrick and his family. The recipients are chosen not only for what they have contributed to the leadership community within Duke Athletics, but also by who they are as people, how they have grown in the area of leadership and how they have used their leadership development to enhance the community during their undergraduate career at Duke University.
The selection is viewed as an investment in the individual rather than on the athletic accomplishments of the individual. It is the investment in the excellence of his/her character, in the qualities of leadership possessed by the individual, commitment to others and the potential for service through outstanding leadership in the future.
Two scholarships will be awarded in the amount of $10,000 each to two graduating Duke student-athletes. The funds will be applied toward the continuation of their academic endeavors at the graduate or professional school level. Funds must be used within three years of each recipient's graduation from Duke University.
A multi-events athlete from Elkins Park, Pa., Smith closed out her Duke career with a bang via a stellar senior campaign that saw her earn her first-career USTFCCCA All-America honors in the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon, and earn the silver medal at the 2024 ACC Outdoor Championships en route to helping the Duke women garner its second straight ACC Outdoor Championship and third in the last four years. In four seasons as a member of the Duke track and field program, Smith was a part of four ACC track & field championship teams for the Blue Devil women – three outdoor (2021, '23, '24) and one indoor (2022). A 2022 ACC Indoor Champion in the women's high jump, Smith has garnered All-ACC honors six times and tallied seven ACC All-Academic Team selections during her Duke tenure.
During her time at Duke, Smith was heavily involved with Duke's United Black Athletes (UBA) student organization, most recently serving as the group's president. In her role, she helped UBA coordinate social, academic, well-being, and community service events for over 15 sports teams across campus, while also advocating for positive change in the student-athlete experience on campus by functioning as a liaison between student-athletes and administration. Smith also served as a Team Leader with Team Impact in Durham, helping to provide emotional and social support to children facing chronic illnesses by planning and attending social and philanthropic events.
A 2024 graduate with a bachelor's degree in biology, Smith graduated with a 3.724 cumulative GPA while being tabbed to the Dean's List in the spring of 2022. She was named a 2024 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient and was recently tabbed as the 2024 ACC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year. Additionally, Smith's active involvement and interest in the medical field has provided her with several unique opportunities that include serving as a communications intern with the Duke Global Health Institute (Sept. 2022–present), a summer scholar with the Duke Center for Genomic & Computational Biology (May 2022–Aug. 2022), an undergraduate research assistant at the West Lab in Durham (May 2022–present) and a research fellow in the Richard Morgan MSTP Research Fellowship Program at UCLA (June 2023–present).
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Verratti appeared in nine matches with one start throughout his Duke career, including three appearances during his senior season in the fall of 2023 and being named the John Rennie Award recipient. He played a career-high 26 minutes in Duke's 7-0 victory over Howard in late October of 2023, and tallied a shot in the Blue Devils' 7-1 win over Virginia Tech three days later.
Off the field, Verratti has served as the men's soccer representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) since August of 2021. As the head of the engagement committee, he helped organize various community service events, including blood drives and stem cell drives, while also coordinating and participating in community service through Gigi's Playhouse, Special Olympics practices and forest clean ups. Verratti is also a co-founder and social chair of the Varsity Business Club, which was organized to provide a database of student-athlete alums to help connect current student-athletes with alumni for mentoring and networking opportunities.
In the classroom, Verratti graduated with a 3.94 cumulative GPA and was a Dean's List with Distinction selection in the fall of 2022, spring of 2023 and fall of 2023. Between May and July of 2023, Verratti spent eight weeks on a global education experience with iXperience Management Consulting in Cape Town, South Africa. During the trip, he focused on communication, analysis, quantitative think and financial modeling in the context of management consulting.
#GoDuke
Heidrick Family Leadership Post Graduate Scholarship Recipients:
2024:
Brianna Smith (Women's Track and Field)
Krew Veratti (Men's Soccer)
2023:
Emmy Duerr (Women's Soccer)
Caroline Howey (Track & Field)
2022:
Tess Boade (Women's Soccer)
Alexis Joseph (Women's Lacrosse)
2021:
Meible Chi (Women's Tennis)
Madison Dunk (Women's Lacrosse)
2020:
Nathaniel Hernandez (Swimming & Diving)
Araad Fisher (Wrestling)
2019:
Morgan Bitting (Field Hockey)
Virginia Elena Carta (Women's Golf)
2018:
Gabe Brandner (Football)
Sarah Furey (Field Hockey)
2017:
Elizabeth Horne (Rowing)
Michael Wilson (Track & Field)
2016:
Lauren Blazing (Field Hockey)
Delaney Lagrew (Swimming & Diving)
2015:
Immanuel Kerr-Brown (Wrestling)
Angel Thompson (Women's Lacrosse)
The Heidrick Family Leadership Post Graduate Scholarships were established through a generous gift by Bob Heidrick and his family. The recipients are chosen not only for what they have contributed to the leadership community within Duke Athletics, but also by who they are as people, how they have grown in the area of leadership and how they have used their leadership development to enhance the community during their undergraduate career at Duke University.
The selection is viewed as an investment in the individual rather than on the athletic accomplishments of the individual. It is the investment in the excellence of his/her character, in the qualities of leadership possessed by the individual, commitment to others and the potential for service through outstanding leadership in the future.
Two scholarships will be awarded in the amount of $10,000 each to two graduating Duke student-athletes. The funds will be applied toward the continuation of their academic endeavors at the graduate or professional school level. Funds must be used within three years of each recipient's graduation from Duke University.
A multi-events athlete from Elkins Park, Pa., Smith closed out her Duke career with a bang via a stellar senior campaign that saw her earn her first-career USTFCCCA All-America honors in the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon, and earn the silver medal at the 2024 ACC Outdoor Championships en route to helping the Duke women garner its second straight ACC Outdoor Championship and third in the last four years. In four seasons as a member of the Duke track and field program, Smith was a part of four ACC track & field championship teams for the Blue Devil women – three outdoor (2021, '23, '24) and one indoor (2022). A 2022 ACC Indoor Champion in the women's high jump, Smith has garnered All-ACC honors six times and tallied seven ACC All-Academic Team selections during her Duke tenure.
During her time at Duke, Smith was heavily involved with Duke's United Black Athletes (UBA) student organization, most recently serving as the group's president. In her role, she helped UBA coordinate social, academic, well-being, and community service events for over 15 sports teams across campus, while also advocating for positive change in the student-athlete experience on campus by functioning as a liaison between student-athletes and administration. Smith also served as a Team Leader with Team Impact in Durham, helping to provide emotional and social support to children facing chronic illnesses by planning and attending social and philanthropic events.
A 2024 graduate with a bachelor's degree in biology, Smith graduated with a 3.724 cumulative GPA while being tabbed to the Dean's List in the spring of 2022. She was named a 2024 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient and was recently tabbed as the 2024 ACC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year. Additionally, Smith's active involvement and interest in the medical field has provided her with several unique opportunities that include serving as a communications intern with the Duke Global Health Institute (Sept. 2022–present), a summer scholar with the Duke Center for Genomic & Computational Biology (May 2022–Aug. 2022), an undergraduate research assistant at the West Lab in Durham (May 2022–present) and a research fellow in the Richard Morgan MSTP Research Fellowship Program at UCLA (June 2023–present).
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Verratti appeared in nine matches with one start throughout his Duke career, including three appearances during his senior season in the fall of 2023 and being named the John Rennie Award recipient. He played a career-high 26 minutes in Duke's 7-0 victory over Howard in late October of 2023, and tallied a shot in the Blue Devils' 7-1 win over Virginia Tech three days later.
Off the field, Verratti has served as the men's soccer representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) since August of 2021. As the head of the engagement committee, he helped organize various community service events, including blood drives and stem cell drives, while also coordinating and participating in community service through Gigi's Playhouse, Special Olympics practices and forest clean ups. Verratti is also a co-founder and social chair of the Varsity Business Club, which was organized to provide a database of student-athlete alums to help connect current student-athletes with alumni for mentoring and networking opportunities.
In the classroom, Verratti graduated with a 3.94 cumulative GPA and was a Dean's List with Distinction selection in the fall of 2022, spring of 2023 and fall of 2023. Between May and July of 2023, Verratti spent eight weeks on a global education experience with iXperience Management Consulting in Cape Town, South Africa. During the trip, he focused on communication, analysis, quantitative think and financial modeling in the context of management consulting.
#GoDuke
Heidrick Family Leadership Post Graduate Scholarship Recipients:
2024:
Brianna Smith (Women's Track and Field)
Krew Veratti (Men's Soccer)
2023:
Emmy Duerr (Women's Soccer)
Caroline Howey (Track & Field)
2022:
Tess Boade (Women's Soccer)
Alexis Joseph (Women's Lacrosse)
2021:
Meible Chi (Women's Tennis)
Madison Dunk (Women's Lacrosse)
2020:
Nathaniel Hernandez (Swimming & Diving)
Araad Fisher (Wrestling)
2019:
Morgan Bitting (Field Hockey)
Virginia Elena Carta (Women's Golf)
2018:
Gabe Brandner (Football)
Sarah Furey (Field Hockey)
2017:
Elizabeth Horne (Rowing)
Michael Wilson (Track & Field)
2016:
Lauren Blazing (Field Hockey)
Delaney Lagrew (Swimming & Diving)
2015:
Immanuel Kerr-Brown (Wrestling)
Angel Thompson (Women's Lacrosse)
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