INDIANAPOLIS - Shippensburg University women's swimming senior
Theresa Simcic was honored Monday with an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, becoming just the fifth student-athlete in school history to achieve this honor and the first in 10 years.
The NCAA awarded educational grants to 58 student-athletes, and the winners (29 men and 29 women) represent winter-sports participants who will receive one-time, nonrenewable grants of $7,500.
Simcic, who will graduate on Saturday with a degree in psychology, was a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay squad that achieved All-American status at this year's national championships. Her relay team established a new school record in the event three times this season and surpassed the 15-year-old mark originally set by a quartet that featured another former Postgraduate Scholarship award winner, Cindy Kepler '94.
“This is a great honor — I am extremely surprised and thankful,” said Simcic, who will attend the University of Kentucky. “This award is literally making it possible for me to continue my education. I have been looking into a number of funding opportunities, but this award is allowing me to keep going.”
Simcic has been an outstanding freestyle swimmer for Shippensburg over the past four years. As a sophomore, she earned five honorable mention All-American honors at the national championships after qualifying as a member of the school's record-setting 400-yard medley relay team. She will study cognitive psychology at Kentucky and plans to seek a Ph.D. in the realm of legal psychology.
“This is such a tremendous accomplishment,” said women's swimming coach
Tim Verge, whose 2008-09 squad ranked fourth in the nation academically among Division II programs. “When you look at the numbers you see how very special it is to receive one of these awards. Of all the senior swimmers in the NCAA this winter, there were only nine women who were granted the scholarships.”
The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition. The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women.
“To be included among this group is so wonderful for Theresa,” Verge said. “She has worked extremely hard during her time here to put herself in this position and I couldn't be more proud of or happy for her.”
The last recipient of the award from Shippensburg was women's basketball star Ashley (Totedo) Swanson '99, a native of Donora who went on to attend the Duquesne University School of Law. She received her justice degree in 2002 and was a recipient of the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Trial Advocacy. She remains an associate for the Pittsburgh-based law firm of Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote, P.C.
Kepler was the PSAC Scholar Athlete of the Year and an Academic All-American as a senior swimmer. She graduated from Shippensburg with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and finished her academic career with a 3.78 grade-point average. With her post-graduate scholarship, Kepler studied through 1998 at the University of Southern California and received a Ph.D. in organosilicon polymer chemistry. She recently served as an assistant professor at Bloomsburg University.
Jim Saxton '79 thrived as a men's swimmer for Shippensburg, and like Totedo, he later received a justice degree from Duquesne in 1982. Saxton has specialized in medical litigation for the past 27 years and currently works as a legal professional for the Lancaster branch of Stevens & Lee, a Pennsylvania-based firm. He is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest professional medical organization in the United States.
Dr. Tony Winter '76 was Shippensburg's first recipient of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. He went on to earn an MBA at Arizona State University where he also was a graduate assistant football coach. In January, Winter accepted a position on campus as the interim executive director of the Institute for Public Service and Sponsored Programs after serving nine years as the associate dean and the director of the Business Intern Program for the John L. Grove College of Business.
The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage postgraduate education by rewarding the Association's most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA championship and/or emerging sports.
