INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced its 2018 spring sports postgraduate scholarship winners and recently graduated Gustavus men’s tennis player Gabe Steinwand (Moorhead, Minn.) was one of 29 student-athletes out of all three divisions to receive the prestigious scholarship.
To qualify, student-athletes must excel academically and athletically, be in their final year of eligibility and plan to pursue graduate study. Student-athletes must also maintain at least a 3.2 grade-point average and be nominated by their institution’s faculty athletics representative. Created in 1964, NCAA postgraduate scholarships promote and encourage education by rewarding the Association’s most accomplished student-athletes.
Gabe Steinwand
Steinwand is the 39th Gustavus student-athlete to receive an NCAA postgraduate scholarship since football player James Goodwin became the first in 1974. Steinwand joins fellow classmate Josie Mazzone (women’s soccer) to receive the NCAA postgraduate scholarship in the 2017-18 academic year.
“We are honored that Gabe has earned an NCAA post graduate scholarship,” Head Coach Tommy Valentini said. “Gabe has been a tremendous student-athlete during his time at Gustavus. He is extremely intelligent and industrious as a student and as a tennis player, but most of all he is a caring community and team member who has lived out the values of our program and Gustavus with courage and consistency. He has had an immeasurable positive impact on our school and our program, and he is most deserving of this prestigious award. As a graduate student and future professional he will continue to do great things and be a great ambassador for Gustavus, our men’s tennis program, and all of Division III athletics.”
Steinwand was a four-year member of the Gustavus men’s tennis program, which won the MIAC regular season and playoff titles all four years he was on the team. He was named to the MIAC All-Conference Singles Team for the second time this past season after posting a perfect 5-0 mark in league singles play. The Moorhead native finished his career 49-28 in singles with an unblemished 17-0 mark in conference matches, and went 29-14 in doubles with a 13-1 record in the MIAC. In 2016 and 2017, Steinwand earned the MIAC Elite 22 award for having the highest GPA among athletes at the conference championship.
The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are at least in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.
The one-time non-renewable scholarships of $7,500 are awarded three times a year corresponding to each sport season (fall, winter and spring). Each sports season there are 29 scholarships available for men and 29 scholarships available for women for use in an accredited graduate program.
All former student-athletes who earned an undergraduate degree from an NCAA member school are eligible to be nominated by that school for an NCAA graduate degree scholarship, regardless of when they received their undergraduate degree.
Wow! Congratulations Gabe! An incredible honor and recognition of your outstanding accomplishments!