Gustavus Adolphus College student athletes Roy Bryan (tennis) and Ben Sherer (baseball) have been selected as two of 58 student-athletes from across the country to receive a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship for the spring sport season. Sherer and Bryan were the only male student-athletes from a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference institution selected to receive the $7,500 award this spring.
Over the last three years, Gustavus ranks fourth (tied with Carleton with eight honorees) for the most postgraduate scholars among all NCAA schools (Division I, II, III). Emory and Stanford have the most postgraduate scholars with 15 each, while Missouri has had 10 recipients. Bryan and Sherer are the 17th and 18th Gustavus student athletes to receive NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships in the history of the program. Indoor track and field sprinter Jack Henkemeyer received a postgraduate scholarship during the winter season giving the Gusties three postgraduate scholars during the 2005-06 school year.
Bryan, a native of Edina, Minn., posted a record of 20-8 at #5 singles and paired with his brother Andy for a 22-7 mark at #2 doubles this past season. He was captain of a Gustavus team that finished third at the NCAA Championships and posted a mark of 35-5 overall. Bryan, a three-year letter-winner, was a two-time all-conference performer. He finished his career with a mark of 52-18 in singles and 59-19 in doubles. A biology major with a 3.90 grade point average, Bryan will attend medical school at the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities next fall.
Sherer, a native of Bismarck, North Dakota, is a three-time all-conference performer and 2004 MIAC Player of the Year. He recently finished his senior season with a .308 batting average, while leading the team in fielding with 162 putouts, 8 assists and no errors for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. Sherer ended his career as one of the top hitters and fielders in the program’s history. He ranks second all-time in career hits (183), third in rbi (109), doubles (41), and at-bats (507), fourth in runs scored (112), and seventh in batting average (.361) and home runs (14). He is also the all-time leader in career putouts with 699 and career fielding percentage at .987. Sherer committed only 9 errors in 747 chances during his career. A biology major with a 3.96 grade point average, Sherer will spend this next year interning as a medical researcher before beginning medical school in the fall of 2007.
The NCAA awarded 58 postgraduate scholarships of $7,500 each to 29 male student-athletes and 29 female student-athletes from all three divisions (I, II, and III) who participated in spring sports. Those sports included 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.
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 also must intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a graduate student.