June 29, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Lauren Buck, a member of the Irish rowing team, has been awarded a postgraduate scholarship through the NCAA. A total of 29 student-athletes nationally, who competed in spring sports, from softball, golf, rowing, tennis, track and water polo, received the $7,500 scholarship.
Buck, the first-ever Irish rower to be given the honor, joins Matt Besler (men’s soccer), Brittany Bock (women’s soccer) and Patrick Smyth (cross country) as 2008-09 recipients of a postgraduate scholarship. The trio were named recipients in the fall of 2008. The four Irish NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship honorees are the most ever in a single year at Notre Dame.
Kelcy Tefft (women’s tennis) and Christine Trezza (rowing) were also named as finalists for the award for the academic year.
The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships, 87 for men and 87 for women, annually. 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 (fall, winter and spring), there are 29 scholarships available for men and 29 scholarships available for women. The scholarships are one-time, non-renewable grants.
Notre Dame boasts a total of 48 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients since 1966. This marks the fourth straight year that a Fighting Irish student-athlete has garnered an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and Notre Dame has had nine honorees in the past three years alone. The Irish had previously received three honorees in a single year in 1968-69, 1974-75 and 2006-07.
Buck (Flint, Mich.) is the first Notre Dame rower to garner a postgraduate scholarship through the NCAA. A member of the varsity eight boat for her third straight year, she was recently selected as a Third Team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-American for the women’s at-large program, after being named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA District V first team All-Academic squad. In addition, Buck was selected to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) National Scholar Athlete team for her third consecutive year. She was also honored as a member of the BIG EAST Academic All-Star team three straight years from 2007-09.
Buck, a team captain with the Notre Dame squad in ’09, was a member of the main Irish boat for the final three years of her career. She helped the team capture the BIG EAST title from 2005-09, including helping her varsity eight boat win gold in the ’07 and ’08 conference grand finals. Buck was a member of the ’07 NCAA Championships, helping her boat qualify for the Petite Finals and a 12th place overall finish in the event.
In the classroom, Buck has posted a 3.875 cumulative grade-point average while enrolled in a joint degree program within the College of Science and MBA Program. She will graduate in May 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in biological science and an MBA. A Dean’s List honoree, she earned a perfect 4.00 grade point average following the ’09 spring semester and was a member of Notre Dame’s prestigious Academic Honors Program.
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