Local swimmer earns nomination for ESPY award

The nominees for the ESPY awards include the usual big names: Alex Rodriguez, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady ... and Susan Beth Scott.

Scott, a 16-year-old from Cape Girardeau, was among the four nominees for the Best Female Athlete with a Disability.

"We're thrilled and shocked about the whole thing," said Alicia Scott, Susan Beth's mother. "She called us [Tuesday] night at the ballpark, where we were watching Ramsey play. She had just gotten the word. We're kind of waiting to get more information."

Susan Beth, who currently is in Colorado training for the Paralympic Games later this year in Beijing, was nominated along with basketball player Patty Cisneros, track and field athlete Jessica Galli and softball player Shay Oberg.

Scott, who was born with a form of spina bifida, set the world record in the 400-meter freestyle this summer at the U.S. Paralympic Swimming Trials. She was named the female swimmer of the meet.

The winner will be selected by a fan vote, which involves registration at the Espys.tv Web site. Voting opened Tuesday and concludes July 12.

Scott is expected to attend the show, which will be taped in Los Angeles and will air July 20 on ESPN. Justin Timberlake will host.

Cisneros, 30, is a University of Illinois graduate who competed for the U.S. wheelchair basketball team in a gold-medal winning effort in the 2004 Paralympics in Athens; Galli, 24, is a world-record holder in wheelchair racing who competed in the Paralympics in 2000 and 2004 and earned the U.S. Olympic Committee's Paralympian of the Year honors in 2007; and Oberg, who was born without a left hand, recently completed her junior season as a member of the college softball team at Montana State-Billings.

"It's unexpected but well-deserved," said Gators Swim Team coach Steve Franklin, who coached Scott and found out about her nomination while watching ESPN on Tuesday night. "She will get to hang out with the big wigs. It's very cool."