Gustavus Adolphus College student athletes Pete Schwingler and Rachel Batalden have been selected to receive postgraduate scholarships from the National Collegiate Athletic Association; both majored in mathematics. Schwingler (tennis) and Batalden (volleyball) are among a group of student athletes that compete in a spring sport in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III to receive a $7,500 postgraduate scholarship.
Schwingler, a native of Rochester, Minn., was a four-year letterwinner for the Gustavus tennis team. He earned all-conference honors at #6 singles this season and was a key part of a team that claimed the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title and placed fourth at the NCAA Division III Championships. Schwingler, who graduated #1 in his class with a perfect 4.0 grade point average, will attend Columbia Law School in the fall.
Batalden has excelled on the volleyball court, setting the second-highest mark for career assists in school history. Her 4,012 assists in her four-year career rank her statistically in the top one percent of setters ever to play Division III volleyball. Off the court, Batalden boasts a 3.898 grade point average with a double major in mathematics and secondary education. Batalden plans to begin work as a secondary school teacher and utilize her NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship by pursuing her master’s degree in Education at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Schwingler and Batalden join fellow Gustavus student athletes, Nichole Petersen, Kristi Schneider, and Amanda Parker as NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners for the 2004-05 school year. Gustavus’ total of five winners is the second highest total in the NCAA this year behind the University of Missouri-Columbia with six. Gustavus has had 15 student athletes receive a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship since 1974.
The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women. The scholarships are awarded to student athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition. The one-time grants of $7,500 each are awarded for fall sports, winter sports and spring sports. Each sports season there are 29 scholarships for men and 29 for women.
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