Two Students Finalists for NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships
Scott Barriger, an Alma College senior from Prescott and Kelly O'Connor, an Alma College senior from Suttons Bay, have been selected as NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship finalists. The College has had 11 NCAA Postgraduate Scholars since 1967.
The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition. The one-time scholarships of $7,500 each are awarded for fall sports, winter sports and spring sports at the end of each season.
Barriger, an Exercise and Health Science major and captain of the 2004 MIAA Champion football team, has been named to the dean's list at Alma College four times and is a member of the Exercise and Health Science Honor Society. He was named to the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Academic Honor Roll for the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 seasons (2004-05 award winners not yet named).
Since the fall of 2003, Barriger has spent 40 hours per semester providing hydrostatic weighing for community members, students and high school wrestlers, providing them with results and additional nutrition and exercise information to assist in reducing body fat and leading a healthier lifestyle. In addition, the senior has participated in Outreach to Elementary Schools, a reading program in which the Alma College football team reads to local elementary school children. In the 2003-04 school year, Barriger served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), raising student awareness of sports and increasing student attendance at sporting events on campus.
On the football field, Barriger was selected as the College's best linebacker and defensive MVP in both 2003 and 2004. He was twice named first team All-MIAA on defense (2003 and 2004) and was the conference's leading tackler in 2003. This season, he was named to the d3football.com Team of the Week and ended the season ranked seventh nationally in total tackles, averaging 12.5 per game. In December 2004 he received the Morley Fraser Scholar-Athlete Award and was named the Detroit Free Press Division III Student-Athlete of the Year.
O'Connor, and English and German double major, has earned Alma College's President's Cup, an award given annually for the highest GPA in class, for the past three years. She has been named to the Alma College Dean's List since beginning her career at Alma in 2001. In that same span, she has earned the Harburn Scholar-Athlete Award, given to the member of each team at Alma College with the highest GPA. She is an Alma College Distinguished Trustee Scholar, a four-year academic undergraduate scholarship. She was named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll since the 2001 season and was named third team Verizon Academic All-District IV (College Division) in 2003.
O'Connor has helped the Alma College volleyball team make the largest contribution of any Michigan AIDS Walk team for three consecutive years. She is a member of Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honorary, a result of outstanding academics and contributions as an English major. Her poetry has been published in Alma's two campus literary journals, The Pine River Anthology and OffKilter. She is also involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Catholic Student Organization, Students United for Nature and Trinity Bible Fellowship.
On the court, O'Connor was named Alma College volleyball's Most Improved Player and received the Coaches Award following the 2004 season. She ranks third in the Alma College record book in career solo blocks (118), block assists (217) and total blocks (335).
The final selections for the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship will be made in late February and announced after that date.
Posted: Wed, February 16th, 2005 at 11:05AM
