Laura Prosinski Earns NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
MOORHEAD, Minn. (3/25/15)—Concordia senior women's soccer player Laura Prosinski (Billings, Mont.) has been named as one of the recipients of the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship for the fall season.
Prosinski is one of just 29 female NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship award winners in all of NCAA Division I, II and III. She is the only student/athlete from the MIAC to earn the award.
Prosinski becomes the ninth Concordia student/athlete in the past 12 years to earn the prestigious award. She is the second consecutive women's soccer athlete to earn the scholarship. Erika Swenson was awarded the NCAA scholarship in 2011.
The NCAA awards 58 postgraduate scholarships to 29 men and 29 women who participated in fall sports, which include football, soccer, cross country, field hockey, women's volleyball and men's water polo.
In addition to the fall sport honorees, the NCAA will also award postgraduate scholarships to student-athletes participating in winter and spring sports in which the NCAA conducts championships or is an emerging sport, for a total of 174 postgraduate scholarships annually.
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 must have behaved, both on and off the field, in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution and intercollegiate athletics. The student-athlete also must intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time graduate student.
The NCAA scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are at least in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.
Prosinski has a 3.99 grade point average over the course of her three-plus years at Concordia. She is a nursing major and will be able to use the scholarship to continue her education in that field of study. Prosinski was a three-year MIAC Academic All-Conference award winner.
Prosinski was a four-year starter for the Concordia women's soccer team. She earned NSCAA All-North Region First team honors in both her junior and senior seasons. Prosinski was a three-time All-MIAC award winner – earning MIAC All-Conference First Team honors the past two years while being placed on the All-MIAC Honorable Mention Team in her sophomore season.
Prosinski was a dominant figure as the team's starting central midfielder for four straight seasons. She started in 86 consecutive games in her career and recorded 12 goals and 14 assists for 38 career points. Prosinski's play helped Concordia win the 2012 MIAC regular-season and tournament championships. She also guided the Cobbers to four consecutive MIAC playoff appearances and three berths in the NCAA Tournament.
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, campus involvement, community service, volunteer activities and demonstrated leadership are evaluated. An equitable approach is employed in reviewing an applicant's nomination form to provide all student-athlete nominees an opportunity to receive the postgraduate award, regardless of sport, division, gender or race. 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.
Concordia NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Recipients
2015 - Laura Prosinski - Women's Soccer
2011 - Erika Swenson - Women's Soccer
2009 - Levi DeVries - Football
2008 - Melanie Hageman - Women's Basketball
2006 - Natalie Hanson - Women's Track and Field
2006 - Angie Pfeiffer - Women's Track and Field
2004 - Nick Myran - Men's Cross Country
2004 - Jordan Talge - Football
2004 - Jessica Walden - Volleyball