Megan Soultz Earns Prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship

August 10, 2010

August 10, 2010, Greencastle, Ind. — Megan Soultz, a May graduate and three-time softball all-America selection has been selected as an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient. She is the 18th DePauw student-athlete to earn the distinction since 1968.

A biology major at DePauw, Soultz had a 3.60 cumulative grade point average at the time of her nomination. The Carmel, Ind., resident was a three-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection and named to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Academic Honor Roll all four years.

In January 2009, while serving a Winter Term internship at a New York City firehouse, she was among the first responders to the US Airways crash on the Hudson River.

In her four years as a pitcher for the Tigers, Soultz posted a 113-25 record with a 1.22 earned run average and was part of Tiger teams which recorded a 149-29 four-year record including the only four NCAA postseason appearances in school history with fifth-place finishes in 2007 and 2010. She was a three-time Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year and a 2008 finalist for Honda Division III Female Athlete of the Year.

The holder of nearly every pitching record at DePauw and in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, Soultz finished her career as Division III's all-time leader with 151 pitching appearances and 148 pitching starts and was tied for second with 115 complete games. Her 113 wins is tied for third in Division III history, while her 48 shutouts are fourth.

The NCAA awarded 58 postgraduate scholarships to student athletes in spring sports including men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, baseball, men’s volleyball, softball, women’s rowing, and women’s water polo. Soultz is one of only 29 female student-athletes earning the $7,500 scholarship.

In addition to the spring-sport honorees, 116 postgraduate scholarships are given to student-athletes participating in fall and winter sports in which the NCAA conducts championships or participates in as an emerging sport. The NCAA awards 174 postgraduate scholarships annually to student-athletes who intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time graduate student.

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-athletes chosen have showed dedication and effort while performing both on and off the field at a high level that has brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution and intercollegiate athletics.

Nomination information is sent to faculty athletics representatives for fall sports in September, for winter sports in January, and for spring sports in March. Selections are made three times each academic year. The nomination must be submitted by the faculty athletics representative during the appropriate seasonal category for the sport using the online scholarship submission system. Candidates are initially reviewed by seven regional selection committees, and the final award recipients are selected by the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Committee.

For more information on the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, visit www.ncaa.org and click on Academics and Athletics, then Education.

DePauw's NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Recipients
Year	Student-Athlete	Sport in which scholarship was awarded
1968	Bruce Montgomerie	football
1969	Tom McCormick	men's basketball
1970	Richard Tharp	men's basketball
1972	Steve Overman	men's basketball
1973	Gordon Pittenger	men's basketball
1977	Mike Kinney	men's track and field
1978	Mark Frazer	football
1981	Jay True	football
1985	Rich Bonaccorsi	football
1986	Tony de Nicola	football
1986	Phil Wendel	men's basketball
1988	Nancy Gritter	women's swimming and diving
1992	Tom Beaulieu	football
1998	Charee Campbell	women's swimming and diving
1999	Susan Bender	women's basketball
2001	Adrienne Gough	women's cross country/track & field
2003	Katie Reis	women's swimming and diving
2010	Megan Soultz	softball