Cecil Receives NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship

(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) – Recent graduate Katie Cecil (Huntington Beach, Calif./Ocean View) of the Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis team has been awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.  Cecil will receive a one-time, nonrenewable grant of $7,500 to be used for part-time or full-time postgraduate study at a university or professional school.

The scholarship is awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition. The Association awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women.

"Katie was an exceptional student, athlete and community member during her time at Carnegie Mellon," said Director of Athletics Josh Centor. "She represented our university with grace and class and I know she will continue to do that as an alumna. We are so proud of Katie's academic and athletic accomplishments. This national honor is recognition of her outstanding college career."

Katie graduated from Carnegie Mellon's Mellon College of Science in May with a cumulative grade point average of 4.0. She won numerous academic awards including being named a CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-American twice and earned two straight NCAA Elite 89 Awards for women's tennis which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 89 championships.

On the court, Katie was a two-time All-American in singles and led the Tartans to two NCAA quarterfinals appearances during her three years. She was also honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) her sophomore year as the National Player to Watch and as the National Arthur Ashe Jr. for Leadership and Sportsmanship Award winner her junior year.

Off the court, she was a member of the Carnegie Mellon Student-Athlete Advisory Council where she volunteered for the Light's On afterschool and Ten Thousand Villages projects.  During her work with the Light's On project, she interacted with youth to teach the benefit of afterschool activities while she supported one of the world's oldest and largest fair trade organizations through the Ten Thousand Villages program. As a junior, Cecil led a service project with the tennis team in April working at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Cecil also volunteered her time to the St. Bernard Rebuilding Project by helping to build houses in New Orleans as part of Hurricane Katrina Relief in 2010.

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. For more information about the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, go to www.ncaa.org.