STANFORD, Calif. – Three Stanford student-athletes have been awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship for the spring season. In total, nine Cardinal have received NCAA postgraduate scholarships during 2015-16.
Krista Hardebeck (women's tennis), Conrad Kaminski (men's volleyball) and Simone Jacobs (women's rowing) received NCAA postgraduate scholarships for their outstanding academic and athletic achievements. They are joined by Jordan Burgess (women's volleyball), BJ Churnside (men's water polo), Aisling Cuffe (women's cross country), Ty Thompson (men's soccer), Gray Umbach (men's swimming) and Justin Brinkley (track and field), who were awarded scholarships in the fall and winter, as Stanford's honorees for 2015-16.
NCAA postgraduate scholarship winners receive a one-time grant of $7,500.To qualify, the student-athletes must be in their final year of eligibility and plan to pursue graduate studies within the next three years. They must also maintain at least a 3.2 grade-point average, have performed with distinction as a member of their varsity team and be nominated by their institution's faculty athletics representative.
The 2016 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Hardebeck was a double major (Political Science, Psychology) where she finished with a 3.82 cumulative grade-point average. She was a member of two NCAA championship teams (2013, 2016) during her time on The Farm. The Santa Ana, California, native was a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection, named to the first team in each of the last two seasons after garnering honorable mention status as a sophomore. Earlier this season, Hardebeck was tabbed a CoSIDA Women's At-Large Academic All-District pick.
Voted an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention selection, Hardebeck ranked second on the team in overall victories (27-8) while finishing 21-3 in duals, including a 10-2 record at the No. 4 spot. Hardebeck, who provided the clinching point in three matches, also produced a career-high 17-match winning streak that spanned nearly two months. Finishing the season with a No. 123 final singles ranking, she compiled a 12-1 record against conference opponents and was unbeaten in nine Pac-12 dual matches. Hardebeck opted not to play tennis last summer, as she was completing an internship in Uganda at the Citizen's Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU).
Kaminski was a three-time AVCA All-American, including a first team-selection in 2016. He finished his career as the school record-holder in the rally scoring era (2001-present) in hitting percentage (.462) and blocks per set (1.11). As a senior, Kaminski led the country with 1.45 blocks per set and was the winner of the Ryan Millar Award, presented to the nation's top middle attacker by Off the Block. The New Berlin, Wisconsin native was a three-time All-MPSF honoree and helped guide the Cardinal to the 2014 national title match.
Kaminski also excelled in the classroom, boasting a 3.58 cumulative grade-point average in mechanical engineering. A three-time MPSF All-Academic Team member, he was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America first team (Men's At-Large) as a senior. The winner of the Spirit of Stanford Award at the 2016 Stanford Athletics Board Awards, Kaminski served as Cardinal Council treasurer, was a member of the leadership team for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, volunteered for St. Anthony's Catholic Church and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, and was a Kappa Alpha Order member. Furthermore, he was the Stanford male recipient of the Pac-12 Tom Hansen Conference Medal, awarded annually to an outstanding senior student-athlete based on the exhibition of the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership.
Jacobs stroked the varsity eight to a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships as a senior, serving in the most important seat in Stanford's top boat. She guided the Cardinal to a fourth-place finish as a team at the NCAA Championships and a second-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships. A First Team Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Pocock All- American, Jacobs was also a First Team CRCA Scholar-Athlete in 2016.
Jacobs garnered first-team All-Pac-12 honors as a senior, also earning a spot on the conference's all-academic squad. A science, technology and society major as an undergraduate, she boasted a cumulative grade-point average of 3.70. Jacobs is currently in the middle of a co-term in communications focusing in media studies, taking classes towards her graduate degree.