FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason's
Michelle Wallerstedt has been chosen as a recipient of an Atlantic 10 Conference Postgraduate Scholarship.
Wallerstedt, a senior thrower on the women's track and field team, was one of 14 graduating student-athletes in the Atlantic 10 Conference to receive the postgraduate scholarship. All 14 A-10 institutions had a student-athlete receive the $5,000 postgraduate scholarship, which will contribute toward full-time enrollment in a graduate or professional program.
"We're thrilled to have Michelle selected," Mason track and field coach
Andrew Gerard said. "She's done a tremendous job in the classroom and in the arena as well all of athletics through the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the Athletic Council and also served as a student liaison for the student government. She's about as good an ambassador for our program as you could wish for. Her graduation will leave us with a big void in a lot of ways, but receiving this scholarship will go a long ways toward helping her pursue her graduate studies."
A native of Omaha, Neb., Wallerstedt graduates this week from George Mason with a bachelor's degree in integrative studies with a concentration in pre-physical Therapy. She is the school-record holder in the discus and ranks in the top 10 in the shot put in the hammer throw. A two-time A-10 champ in the discus, she will be making her third trip to the NCAA East Preliminary next week.
She also has been named to the A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll six times and served as the president of SAAC. Earlier this month, she received the athletic department's Susan Collins Leadership Award for Women in Sport.
Designed to provide graduating student-athletes the opportunity to continue their college education, the program awards $70,000 in scholarship funding to former A-10 student-athletes. This marks the third straight year the Atlantic 10 has provided the scholarship to 14 individuals, and over the past six years, the A-10's Postgraduate Scholarship program has awarded over $250,000 to 64 former student-athletes.
"Congratulations to each of these deserving young men and women," stated Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. "The opportunity to provide for advanced education for this exemplary group is a part of the commitment our member institutions make toward the academic success of their student-athletes. This is a prestigious honor and we wish each of the honorees continued success with their postgraduate education."
The selection process, which involves the league's athletic directors, senior woman administrators and faculty athletic representatives, resulted in a class with an average GPA of 3.71. The class is comprised of 10 female student-athletes and four males, and represents six different sports.
