2018 POSTGRAD BIOS
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.— The Atlantic 10 Conference has announced its A-10 Postgraduate Scholarship recipients for 2018. Released on Thursday, the prestigious honor is given to a graduating student-athlete from each of the league’s 14 members.
All 14 honorees will receive $5,000 to contribute towards full-time enrollment in a postgraduate or professional program. Designed to provide graduating student-athletes the opportunity to continue their education, the program awards $70,000 in scholarship funding to former A-10 student-athletes. This marks the fourth straight year the Atlantic 10 has provided the scholarships to 14 individuals, and over the past five years, the A-10’s Postgraduate Scholarship program has awarded $350,000 to 66 former student-athletes.
“This is one of our most prestigious and highly-coveted honors that the Atlantic 10 awards its student-athletes,” stated Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. “Each of our postgraduate honorees are deserving of this award, super intelligent and multi-talented young people! Each will be exceptional leaders and successful in their post-graduate studies. I offer my congratulations to these 14 outstanding men and women.”
The selection process, which involves the league’s athletic directors, senior woman administrators and faculty athletic representatives, resulted in a class with an average GPA of 3.74. The class is comprised of 10 female student-athletes and four males, representing six different sports.
Name | School | Sport | Undergraduate Major
Sarah Sears | Davidson | Cross Country/Track & Field | Latin American Studies
Jackie Kawamoto | Dayton | Tennis | Psychology
Alexandra Santer | Duquesne | Swimming & Diving | Occupational Therapy
Christopher Bazzini | Fordham | Soccer | Information Systems
Sharon Dorsey | George Mason | Track & Field | Environmental Science
Miranda Horn | George Washington | Soccer | International Affairs & History
Fabian Bergman | La Salle | Swimming & Diving | Integrated Business Science & Technology
Alexander DeSantis | Massachusetts | Soccer | Biology
Amanda Nardella | Rhode Island | Soccer | Kinesiology
Lauren McRae | Richmond | Swimming & Diving | Chemistry
Jordan Powers | St. Bonaventure | Swimming & Diving | Biochemistry
Kristen Kelbon | Saint Joseph’s | Lacrosse | Accounting & Finance
Aaliya Covington | Saint Louis | Basketball | Social Work
Taylor McCormick | VCU | Track & Field | Criminal Justice
In each of the last four years, the average GPA of the honorees for the Postgraduate Scholarship Program has been 3.70 or higher. The program, which began honoring two student-athletes in 1991, has been so successful and well-received by both the recipients and the A-10 member institutions that it has expanded several times. The most recent expansion, which was adopted in January, 2015 and implemented that spring, now includes one representative from each A-10 school.
To be considered for the Postgraduate Scholarship, student-athletes must have performed with distinction both in the classroom and in their respective sports throughout their career, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community. The postgraduate program expanded to four recipients in 1997 and then to 10 in 2014.
The Postgraduate Scholarship Program is part of the conference’s broad-based commitment to student-athlete opportunities and academics. The conference consistently ranks at the top amongst all Division I Conferences in both Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and the Academic Progress Rate (APR) data released by the NCAA.