INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced its 2017 fall sports postgraduate scholarship winners and Gustavus women’s soccer player Josie Mazzone (Sr., Rapid City, S.D.) was one of 58 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.
Josie Mazzone is the 38th Gustavus student-athlete to receive an NCAA postgraduate scholarship since football player James Goodwin became the first in 1974.
“Of all the high-caliber student-athletes I have coached and taught over the past ten years, Josie is in the elite group and incredibly deserving of the NCAA post-graduate scholarship,” Head Coach Laura Burnett-Kurie said. “She is truly an outstanding student-athlete who has excelled within the women’s soccer program, classroom, and greater community. From the start, not only was Josie able to balance the high demands of being a collegiate athlete with all her extracurricular activities and volunteering, but also in exemplifying an NCAA Division III athlete with her dedication, development and leadership.”
Mazzone started all 20 games this past season, posting two goals and one assist for five points as a defender. Mazzone, who earned her second All-MIAC award after the 2017 season, took 21 shots, nine of which were on goal, for a shots-on-goal percentage of .429. She also had one game-winning goal. After four seasons of wearing the Black and Gold, Mazzone played in 73 games with three goals and four assists for 10 points.
Mazzone, an exercise physiology and health fitness double major with a near-perfect 3.976 GPA, was a key cog in the Gustavus women’s soccer program’s turnaround from the basement of the MIAC standings to three consecutive league playoff appearances, including a conference playoff championship in 2016. In her first year, Mazzone and the Gusties went 2-13-2 overall and finished 11th in the MIAC. The following season, the Gusties increased their win total by 11 games, finished second in the league, and upset St. Thomas for the MIAC playoff title.
“Josie has proven herself a natural leader with an unwavering commitment to excellence shown by her outstanding accomplishments on the field, in the classroom and within the greater community,” Burnett-Kurie said. “Josie has embraced and personified our programs moto: to be the best you can be in all areas of your life. She is incredibly deserving of this NCAA post-grad scholarship and we could not be prouder of her accomplishments.”
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.