Harvard-Bound Milechman Earns Patterson Scholarship

cross country and track star was honored as the first Bill Patterson Scholarship winner by the Dipsea Race Foundation at the Dipsea Hall of Fame Dinner at the on Friday night.

Milechman, the and this spring, was awarded $5,000 toward his education at Harvard University in the fall. Milechman at the Tam High graduation.

The scholarship was created this year in honor of Williams "Bill" Patterson, the Ross philanthropist, Dipsea Race regular and partner in Mill Valley-based investment firm . Patterson died in October 2010 after a battle with a brain tumor.

Tam’s Hannah Berman was among the other high school seniors who earned scholarships through an application process that weighed athletics, essay writing, letters of recommendation and Dipsea participation. Mill Valley Mayor Ken Wachtel bestowed an honorary key to the city upon Berman, the eldest daughter of Mill Valley City Councilman Andy Berman.

Berman, who finished first in her , is heading to UC-Berkeley in the fall as one of just 150 students who received a Regents and Chancellor's scholarship.

Mill Valley resident and Redwood High senior Benjamin Vogensen also received a Dipsea scholarship, as did San Rafael’s William Cooney (Marin Catholic) and Palo Alto’s Rachel Skokowski (Castilleja). Vogensen is headed to College of Marin, Cooney will soon be off to the University of Michigan and Skokowski has been accepted at Princeton University.

Each recent grad received a $4,500 scholarship from the foundation.

Also at the dinner, 69-year-old Melody-Anne Schultz of Ross was named to the Dipsea Hall of Fame. The two-time race winner was the 25th inductee into the exclusive club. She finished 26th in the on Sunday.