Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: April 29, 2008

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NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Winners

Past Cobber NCAA Scholarship Winners

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MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/29/08)-- Concordia senior women's basketball player Melanie Hageman (Fargo, N.D./Fargo South HS) was awarded the top academic honor in the NCAA as she received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship it was announced by the NCAA this week.

Hageman becomes the sixth athlete from Concordia to earn the prestigious award in the past five years. Nick Myran (track and field), Jordan Talge (football) and Jessica Walden (volleyball) earned the distinction in the 2005-06 academic calendar year and Angie Pfeiffer (women's track and field) and Natalie Hanson (Women's Track and Field) won the award in 2006. 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 five years.

The NCAA awards 58 postgraduate scholarships of $7,500 each to 29 men and 29 women who participated in winter sports.

In addition to the winter sport honorees, the NCAA also awarded 116 postgraduate scholarships to student-athletes participating in fall and spring 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 finishes a tremendous senior season for both Hageman as she was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American Honorable Mention Team. She became the 13th player in program history to earn All-American honors.

Hageman was also was named to the MIAC All-Conference First Team, the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American Team, the WBCA All-Region Team and last week was named to the D3hoops.com All-West Region Second Team for the third consecutive season.

Hageman led the team in scoring in 2007-08 with a 16.9 points per game average. She also led the team in rebounding by averaging 7.4 rebounds per game. Hageman finished the season with six double-doubles on the year and scored at least 20 points in eight games.

Hageman finished her four years with 1,625 points and 690 rebounds. She is fourth on the school’s all-time scoring list and eighth on the rebounding chart. She was the 10th player in school history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds.

In 2007-08, Hageman has scored in double figures in all but one of the team's 20 games. She has scored at least 20 points in six games and had a season-high 27 points against St. Kate's on Dec. 8. She was also named the MIAC Player of the Week on Jan. 15.