Two UMR swimmers earn NCAA Post-Graduate scholarships

Two members of the University of Missouri-Rolla swimming team have been named as recipients of post-graduate scholarships awarded by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Bill Gaul (West Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling Jesuit) and Andy Shelley (Katy, Texas/Cinco Ranch) was among the 29 men covering all three NCAA divisions for sports that compete in the winter season; each scholarship is worth $7,500.

Gaul earned All-America honors this season as part of the Miners’ 200-yard medley relay team that finished sixth at the NCAA Division II Championships and earned 11 All-America awards in his four seasons with the Miner program. He has also earned numerous academic honors, including being names as the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America "Player of the Year" in the at-large category in the College Division for the 2005-06 school year.

He finished among the top 16 in the nation in the two breaststroke events at the national meet in 2006 and was also part of the Miners' 200-yard medley relay team that placed sixth. He was also a 2005 selection to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team. He is majoring in chemical engineering at UMR.

Shelley, who also made the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team in 2005 as a second-team selection, was part of the Miners’ 800-yard freestyle relay team that placed fourth at this year’s national meet. He has earned five All-America awards during his career as a Miner and was a consistent scorer for the Miners at meets throughout the last four seasons.

Shelley, a mechanical engineering major, and Gaul have also been selected to the College Swimming Coaches Association of America’s all-academic team, where the Miners as a team have been the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II throughout that span.

To qualify for an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, a student-athlete must have an overall grade point average of 3.200 (on a 4.000 scale) or its equivalent, and must have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity team in the sport in which the student-athlete 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.