Lipscomb Cross-Country Runner Named Walter Byers Award Finalist
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Lipscomb University senior David Scott has been honored by the NCAA as one of three male student-athletes named as national finalists for its Walter Byers Scholarship, an annual award given to graduating seniors who will continue their education in graduate school.
The award, worth $12,500 for the first year of graduate school and renewable for the second year, is named for Walter Byers, past executive director of the NCAA. The Walter Byers Scholarship Committeeof the NCAA will select two recipients -- one male and one female -- from among six finalists (three men, three women) from all divisions of the NCAA.
"I am honored to be considered as one of the three national finalists for the NCAA Walter Byers Scholarship," said Scott, a philosophy major from Hendersonville, Tennessee who holds a 4.0 grade point average. "This award would be of great benefit in financing my graduate studies. I am proud to represent Lipscomb University and look forward to the interview process."
Scott, who was selected as an NAIA Academic All-American last year in men''s track and field, will travel to Atlanta in late April for an interview with the Walter Byers Scholarship Committee. A decision on the recipients will be announced shortly thereafter. with because he exemplifies the perfect student-athlete," said Dr. Lin Garner, Assistant Director of Athletics for Academics at Lipscomb University. "He is dedicated to pursuing all types of knowledge as well as to exercising his athletic abilities to their fullest extent. He is consistently among the first to volunteer for service projects. We are thrilled that he is being honored in this way."
The Byers Scholarship Program was established in 1988 to recognize the contributions of the former NCAA executive director, and it was developed to encourage excellence in academic performance by student-athletes. The student-athletes are chosen in recognition of outstanding academic achievement and potential for success in postgraduate study in his or her planned career. A Byers Scholar is recognized as an individual who has combined the best elements of mind and body to achieve national distinction for his or her achievements, and who promises to be a future leader in his or her chosen field.
Award recipients are required to have at least a 3.5 grade-point average (4.0 scale), show evidence of superior character and leadership, and demonstrate that participation in athletics has been a positive influence on personal and intellectual development, among other qualifications.
Lipscomb University Cross-Country Head Coach Clay Nicks said Scott is the type of student-athlete that a program builds upon. "Dave completely represents what a student-athlete should be," Nicks said. "You will not find an athlete that works harder in athletics or academics. He represents what coach wants in a student-athlete. He is very deserving of such a high honor."
Scott is the first Lipscomb student-athlete to be named as a finalist for a national academic award since the school began provisional membership in NCAA Division I in 1999. Lipscomb is scheduled to begin full D-I membership in the fall of 2003.