TicketsMay 2, 2007
INDIANAPOLIS--Former University of Cincinnati swimmer Marcel Kleiner (Heilbronn, Germany/Hohen Staufen Gymnasium) was awarded a $7,500 postgraduate scholarship by the NCAA on Tuesday (May 1).
Kleiner was named UC's Scholar-Athlete of the Fall quarter after posting a 4.0 GPA. Holding a 3.93 GPA, he has been accepted into UC's MBA program for next fall. A native of Heilbronn, Germany, Kleiner led the Bearcats to a fifth-place finish at the 2007 BIG EAST Championships with three top-four finishes. Kleiner won the 2005 Conference USA Invitational title in the 100-meter freestyle and was part of four championship and school record-setting relays that same season.
"Marcel has been recognized for his accomplishments in a number of ways these past few weeks - BIG EAST postgraduate scholarship, TopCat Scholar, and now the prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarship. These accolades come as no surprise to those of us who have had the privilege to know, or work with, Marcel," said head coach Monty Hopkins. "Marcel has earned these honors by virtue of his own consistent hard work as a dedicated athlete and as a serious student. He is an exceptionally talented, gregarious and dedicated individual who is just beginning to show the signs of even greater things."
In addition to the winter sport honorees, the NCAA also awards 116 postgraduate scholarships to student-athletes participating in fall and spring sports in which the NCAA conducts championships or participates in as an emerging sport, for a total of 174 postgraduate scholarships annually.
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. Athletics and academic achievements, as well as campus involvement, community service, volunteer activities and demonstrated leadership, are evaluated. In maintaining the highest broad-based standards in the selection process, the program aims to reward those individuals whose dedication and effort are reflective of those characteristics necessary to succeed and thrive through postgraduate study in an accredited graduate degree program.
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-athlete also must intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time graduate student.