ATHENS, Georgia, May 8. DIVER Laura Ryan and swimmers Shannon Vreeland and Andrew Gemmell have been chosen as 2014 recipients of NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships.
Ryan, Vreeland and Gemmell each will receive a $7,500 Postgraduate Scholarship from the NCAA, which awards 87 to women and 87 to men annually. The Georgia swimming and diving program has produced 32 recipients of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, garnering more than $165,000. Overall, Georgia has 70 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients.
Ryan and Vreeland helped the Lady Bulldogs win their second consecutive NCAA title in March and extend Georgia’s streak of SEC championships to five in February. Gemmell led the Bulldogs to a third-place finish at the SECs and a fifth-place effort at the NCAAs.
Ryan, a native of Elk River, Minn., is Georgia’s first diver to earn an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. She has a 3.79 GPA in Psychology and earned a Ramsey Scholarship for Academic and Athletic Excellence. Ryan has been named to the SEC and Georgia academic honor rolls and was picked to the CSCAA Scholar All-America Team.
Ryan won the 1- and 3-meter springboards at the NCAA meet to become the first Georgia diver to claim national titles. She also came in third on platform and earned Diver of the Meet honors. Ryan medaled on all three boards (first on 3-meter, second on platform and third on 1-meter) at the conference meet and was chosen as the SEC Diver of the Year.
On Tuesday, Vreeland was selected as the SEC’s H. Boyd McWhorter Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for all sports and received a $15,000 SEC Postgraduate Scholarship. The Overland Park, Kansas, native has a 3.83 GPA while double majoring in Economics and International Affairs. Vreeland was named a recipient of the Ramsey Scholarship for Academic and Athletic Excellence and was chosen as the recipient of the Lisa Coole Memorial Scholarship. She is a past member of the Capital One Academic All-America and CSCAA Scholar All-America squads.
Vreeland placed second in the 200 freestyle, fifth in the 100 freestyle and sixth in the 500 freestyle at the NCAAs. During the SEC meet, she won the 200 freestyle and placed second in the 100 and 500 freestyle.
Gemmell holds a 3.86 GPA as he majors in Economics. He recently was awarded an SEC Postgraduate Scholarship. Gemmell earned the Terry College of Business Outstanding Achievement in Economics Award. He was the 2013 SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for swimming and he is a past member of the Capital One Academic All-America and CSCAA Scholar All-America squads. Gemmell earned a Ramsey Scholarship for Academic and Athletic Excellence and twice has won UGA’s Scholar-Athlete Award for having the highest GPA on the swimming and diving team.
At the NCAAs, Gemmell placed sixth in the 1,650 freestyle. He finished third in the 1,650 freestyle, sixth in the 500 freestyle and ninth in the 400 individual medley at the SECs.
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