Three Bears Earn NCAA Winter Postgraduate Scholarships

St. Louis, Mo., April 30, 2008 – Three Washington University student-athletes were awarded educational grants through the NCAA postgraduate scholarship program, as announced by the NCAA. The Washington U. winter sport recipients were Morgen Leonard-Fleckman of the women’s indoor track and field team, Troy Ruths of the men’s basketball team, and Priya Srikanth of the women’s swimming and diving team.

The three Washington University selections were among 58 scholarship winners, 29 men and 29 women, from a pool of student-athletes representing all three NCAA divisions. Each scholarship recipient will receive a one-time grant from the NCAA for the amount of $7,500 to use towards postgraduate studies.

Leonard-Fleckman won the pole vault national title at the 2008 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, with a school-record breaking height of 3.86 meters. The three-time All-America honoree boasts a 3.99 cumulative grade point average and is majoring in chemistry.

Ruths led the WU men’s basketball team to its first national championship in school history and won the 2008 Jostens Trophy, annually awarded to the top Division III men’s and women’s players in the country. He has twice been named the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America of the Year and will graduate in May with a 4.0 GPA and a degree in computer science.

Srikanth ends her four years on the Danforth Campus as a four-time All-America honoree. At the 2008 NCAA Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, she placed eighth in the three-meter springboard and fifth in the one-meter event. Srikanth is majoring in biochemistry and has a cumulative GPA of 3.98.

The scholarships are annually awarded to up to 174 student-athletes who excel both academically and athletically and are in their final year of intercollegiate athletic competition. The program was created in 1964 to promote and encourage postgraduate education by rewarding the Association’s most accomplished student-athletes.