Petersen Awarded NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship

Lincoln ? Nebraska track and field senior thrower Eric Petersen was recently selected as a recipient of a $7,500 NCAA postgraduate scholarship. Petersen was one of three track and field student-athletes in the Big 12 Conference and 58 spring student-athletes across the country to be awarded a grant from the NCAA.

 

A four-time All-Big 12 performer, Petersen capped his senior year with top-five finishes at both the indoor and outdoor Big 12 Championships. Petersen, who specialized in the weight and hammer throws for the Huskers, placed fourth in the weight indoors and fifth in the hammer outdoors as a senior. In 2009, he took fifth in the weight and fourth in hammer.

 

Petersen leaves the Huskers ranked in the top-15 in both the weight and hammer throws on NU’s all-time performance lists. In the hammer throw he ranks ninth with a throw of 199-1, while in the weight throw he ranks 12th with a throw of 61-9 1/2.

 

While excelling in the throwing ring, Petersen has also been one of the Huskers’ top performers in the classroom as a physics and astronomy major. A four-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection, Petersen also earned USTCCCA All-Academic Team honors in 2009 and is nominated for the team again in 2010.

 

The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.

 

The one-time grants of $7,500 each are awarded for fall sports, winter sports and spring sports. Each sports season (fall, winter and spring), there are 29 scholarships available for men and 29 scholarships available for women. The scholarships are one-time, non-renewable grants.