March 2, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS - Navy senior Lizzie Barnes (New Orleans, La.) has been named one of 58 student-athletes nationally and just one of six female Division I women's soccer players to be awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, the organization announced recently.
The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships, 87 for men and 87 for women, annually. The winners (29 men and 29 women) represent fall-sports participants who will receive one-time, nonrenewable grants of $7,500. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition. The NCAA will name postgraduate scholars for winter and spring sports later this year.
Barnes, who also earned First-Team Academic All-America honors (for the second time in her career) earlier this fall, was the only Patriot Leaguer chosen among the 58 honorees.
"It is an honor to have been considered for and awarded such a scholarship," said Barnes. "There are so many graduating student-athletes across the country who are deserving of this honor and I am very humbled to be considered one of them."
This fall, the 5-foot-10 New Orleans native who boasts a 3.88 grade-point average as a double major in computer science and information technology, earned league goalkeeper-of-the-year honors for the second time in her three-year run as the Mids' starter.
She concluded her playing career as Navy's all-time leader in goals-against average (0.65) and shutouts (29). A key cog in the team's stifling defensive unit, she helped lead the Mids to NCAA appearances during the 2006 and 2007 seasons and a four-year mark of 60-19-10, good for the highest winning percentage (.739) of any class in school history.
Away from the field, she stands 15th in military order of merit and is 22nd overall in the Class of 2009 (1,074 students). Additionally, she has posted a 4.0 GPA in four-straight and five of her last six semesters and has earned Dean's List mention four times.
Her academic credentials have helped her garner a long list of accolades this season, including the Patriot League's Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for women's soccer and a spot on the five-member Lowe's Senior All-America First-Team.
"Lizzie is the complete package," said Navy head coach Carin Gabarra. "She takes tremendous pride in everything she does. She has left a lasting mark on our program and we are extremely proud of what she has accomplished and look forward to seeing her continued success.
The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage postgraduate education by rewarding the Association's most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA championship and/or emerging sports.
### GO NAVY! ###
