NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Winners

Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: July 30

Complete NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Info

MOORHEAD, Minn. (7/30/06)-- Concordia seniors Natalie Hanson (Rogers, Minn./Elk River HS) and Angie Pfeiffer (Colman, S.D./Colman-Egan HS) were awarded the top academic honor in the NCAA as they each received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.

They become the fourth and fifth athletes from Concordia to earn the prestigious award in the past two years. Nick Myran (track and field), Jordan Talge (football) and Jessica Walden (volleyball) earned the distinction in the 2005-06 academic calendar year. Concordia is one of a select few colleges or universities in the nation to boast at least five NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners in the past two years.

The NCAA awards 58 postgraduate scholarships of $7,500 each to 29 men and 29 women who participated in spring sports, which include baseball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, women's rowing, softball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's outdoor track and field, men’s volleyball, women’s synchronized swimming and women’s water polo.

In addition to the spring sport honorees, the NCAA also awarded 116 postgraduate scholarships to student-athletes participating in fall and winter sports in which the NCAA conducts championships or is an emerging sport, for a total of 174 postgraduate scholarships annually.

To qualify for an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, a student-athlete must have an overall grade-point average of 3.200 (on a 4.000 scale) or its equivalent, and must have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity team in the sport in which the student-athlete was nominated.

The student-athlete must have behaved, both on and off the field, in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution and intercollegiate athletics. The student-athlete also must intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time graduate student.

Selections are made three times each academic year. The nominations must be submitted during the appropriate seasonal category for the sport. Candidates are screened by seven regional selection committees, and the award recipients are selected by the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Committee.

The award culminates a tremendous spring season for both Hanson and Pfeiffer. Last month they were both were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American First Team. They also both earned All-American awards at the NCAA Division III National Track and Field Championship Meet at the end of May.

Hanson carried a 3.78 grade point average wile majoring in Environmental Studies and Biology and Pfeiffer had a 3.91 GPA while majoring in English Writing and Pre-Dentistry. Both athletes are planning on attending graduate school.

The pair are the fourth and fifth athletes from Concordia to earn Academic All-District First team honors during the 2005-06 athletic year (Matt Kleber, football; Keith Eckhoff, men's basketball; Annie Cullen, at-large). That is the most Academic All-District First team award-winners in one school year in the history of Cobber athletics.

Hanson earned her first All-American honors by placing fourth in the 1500 meters and sixth in the 800 meters at the recently completed NCAA Division III National Outdoor Track and Field at Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill. She became the third consecutive Cobber women's track and field athlete to earn multiple All-American awards in the same outdoor national championship meet. Last year Nicole Plante ('05, Fort Benton, Mont.) earned All-American status in the javelin and heptathlon and in 2004 Pfeiffer completed the feat in the 400 meters and 4x400-meter relay.

Hanson set school record in the 800 and 1500 meters this spring and automatically qualified for the national meet in both events. She was the first Cobber women's athlete to automatically qualify for two individual track events in over a decade.

Hanson also excelled in the fall in cross country. She earned All-Region honors by finishing fourth at the Central Region Meet held in Waverly, Iowa. She went on to compete in her first NCAA National Cross Country Meet.

Pfeiffer was recently named the USTFCCCA Central Region Athlete of the Year. She also earned her sixth All-American award by finishing third in the 400 meters at the national meet.

Pfeiffer won the 400 meters at the MIAC Championship Meet and earned Performance of the Meet for her record-breaking victory.

She also won the 400 meters at the MIAC Indoor Championship Meet and was awarded the Performance of the Meet award as she broke the MIAC meet record.

Pfeiffer finished her career by breaking 13 school records and competing in six NCAA national Championship Meets, including all four outdoor championship meets.

She won the MIAC Performance of the Meet award on three separate occasions and was named the MIAC Most Outstanding Track Athlete in 2004 when she helped the Cobber capture the MIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship.