Monday, March 11, 2002

WOLFSBERGER AWARDED NCAA POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP

INDIANAPOLIS, IN --- Moravian College senior Heidi Wolfsberger (Moosic, PA/Riverside HS) was awarded one of 58 NCAA postgraduate scholarships for $5,000 to 29 men and 29 women who participated in fall sports.  The fall sports include men's and women's cross country, field hockey, football, men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball and men's water polo.

In addition to the fall sport honorees, the NCAA also awards 116 postgraduate scholarships to student-athletes participating in winter and spring sports in which the NCAA conducts championships, 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.

Nomination forms are sent to faculty athletics representatives for fall sports in September, for winter sports in late November and for spring sports in February.  Selections are made three times each academic year.  The application must be submitted during the appropriate seasonal category for the sport.  Candidates are screened by seven regional selection committees and the winners are selected by the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Committee.

Wolfsberger, who has maintained a GPA over 3.90 as a psychology and elementary education major, led the Moravian women's cross country team to its ninth straight Middle Atlantic Conference Championships last fall.  She also helped the squad win the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional for the second straight season and place third at the NCAA Division III National Championship meet.  Individually, Wolfsberger won the MAC and NCAA Mideast Regional races and she finished as the runner-up at the National Championship to earn All-American honors for the third straight year.

Fourteen of the women's 29 winners are from the NCAA Division III level and Wolfsberger and senior volleyball player Brandy Workinger from Juniata College are the only two selections from the MAC.

Wolfsberger is the second Moravian female to win the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and the fourth overall.  Moravian's other winners include Sharon Duffy in 1990, Daniel Joseph in 1973 and Jud Frank in 1994.