A pair of Nebraska Wesleyan University track and field stars were among 29 men in the nation selected to receive a $7,500 postgraduate scholarship from the NCAA for the winter 2006-07 sports season.

Sprinter Gordie Coffin (Sr., Osceola, Neb., Osceola High School) has a 3.95 cumulative GPA, majoring in communication studies with a minor in English. Entering the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships this Saturday in Seward, Coffin is a five-time conference champion and 16-time All-GPAC performer. He is also a four-time NCAA Div. III All-American and was a national champion in 2005 as a member of the Outdoor 4x100-meter relay.

Long jumper Jed Droge (Sr., Pawnee City, Neb., Pawnee City High School) is double-majoring in athletic training and exercise science with a cumulative GPA of 3.78. Droge is a two-time conference champion and a five-time NCAA Div. III All-American in the long jump.

Nebraska Wesleyan currently ranks sixth in Division III for the number of its student-athletes, who have won NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships. Click here to view the University’s all-time list of winners.

NCAA POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Top 15 institutions in Division III

1. Emory University, 59

2. Kenyon College, 50

3. Denison University, 42

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 34

5. Johns Hopkins University, 33

6. Nebraska Wesleyan University, 31

7. Trinity University (Texas), 29

8. Luther College, 28

9. Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, 26

(tie) Sewanee: The University of the South, 26

11. Washington & Lee University, 25

12. Carleton College, 24

(tie) Wartburg College, 24

14. Cornell College, 22

15. Gustavus Adolphus College, 21

The NCAA awarded 58 postgraduate scholarships of $7,500 each to 29 men and 29 women who participated in winter sports, including basketball, fencing, gymnastics, ice hockey, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, indoor track and field and wrestling. The list also includes women’s archery, bowling, squash, synchronized swimming and team handball.

To qualify for an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, a student-athlete must meet minimum GPA requirements and have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity team in the sport in which he or she 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.