Gustavus Adolphus College student athlete Andy Bryan has been selected to receive postgraduate scholarships from the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Bryan, a tennis player from Edina, Minn., is among a group of 58 student athletes that compete in a winter sport in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III to receive a $7,500 postgraduate scholarship.
A biology and management major, Bryan was a first team CoSIDA Academic All-America selection this year and posted a 29-5 singles record and a 28-6 doubles record, playing at No. 1 singles and doubles (with Charlie Paukert) this season for the Gusties. Bryan won both singles and doubles titles at last fall’s ITA Midwest Region Championship and then was selected for both the singles draw and the doubles draw (with Paukert) at the 2008 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championships in Lewiston, Maine. Bryan bowed out of the first round of the singles draw before finishing as a runner-up in the doubles draw. His season accomplishments earned him ITA Division III All-America honors in both singles and doubles. He was also named the ITA Division III Senior Player of the Year. Off the tennis court, Bryan has volunteered at the Fairview Southdale Hospital, a local nursing home, and the St. Peter Community Library. He has also been a part of Gustie Buddies and provided tennis lessons in St. Peter.
Since the start of the 2004-05 academic year, Gustavus ranks third for the most postgraduate scholars among all NCAA schools (Division I, II, III). Stanford University has the most postgraduate scholars with 29, followed by Emory with 22 and Gustavus with 15. Gustavus has had a total of 25 student athletes receive NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships since football player James Goodwin became the first in 1974.
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 men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s lacrosse, women’s rowing, men’s volleyball, women’s synchronized swimming, women’s water polo, baseball, and softball.
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.