University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU's Rose Earns NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship :: Senior one of three recent academic honorees for track and field program.

OU's Rose Earns NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship :: Senior one of three recent academic honorees for track and field program. OU's Rose Earns NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship

Senior one of three recent academic honorees for track and field program.




Senior Cecil Rose adds another academic honor.

May 9, 2002

NORMAN, Okla. - Senior Cecil Rose has been awarded an NCAA Ethnic Minority Postgraduate Scholarship for Careers in Athletics. The $6,000 scholarship is one of 13 awarded annually by the NCAA to students entering their first year of graduate studies. Rose will graduate from The University of Oklahoma in July with a degree in management and plans to pursue a master's degree in human relations at OU.

The scholarships are awarded to students who are planning on pursuing a career in intercollegiate athletics as an administrator, coach, athletic trainer or on another career that provides a direct service to intercollegiate athletics. Applicants must have performed with distinction as members of the student body at their respective undergraduate institutions. Involvement in extracurricular activities, course work, commitment to pursuing a career in intercollegiate athletics and promise for success in such a career is considered.

Rose has been selected to be one of two student-athletes to speak on behalf of the Class of 2002 at the Athletic Department's Graduate Reception Friday afternoon.

A native of Missouri City, Texas, Rose has lettered four years in cross country and track for the Sooners. He has earned Academic All-Big 12 honors in cross country three times (the maximum allowed) and track three times. He has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll seven times with an eighth pending the completion of the spring 2002 semester.

He was named the Prentice Gautt Award winner as the Outstanding Student-Athlete by the OU Black Student Association. He is currently serving as vice-president of the National Student Business League, OU Chapter, an organization that he was active in re-starting. He is treasurer of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board and was president of the Freshman Action Team, a group that provided mentoring to promote the retention rate of freshman minority students. He also served on the executive committee of OU's On One Accord, a group to promote cultural exchanges among OU's diverse cultures; as a teaching assistant in OU's Gateway classes; and on the executive committee of Celebrate the Vote 2000, an effort to increase minority voter registration and education in the Oklahoma City metro area. Additionally, he has been involved in the Big Brother/Big Sister program in Dallas.

Choctaw sophomore Darren Hutchins was awarded the Richard V. Andree Memorial Scholarship by the Department of Mathematics at OU. Hutchins, who is a redshirt freshman in track and field, was named to the Big 12 All-Academic cross country team last fall and has been nominated for the All-Academic team in track and field this spring. He was a 2001 Jay Myers Award winner at OU and has a 3.96 GPA in mathematics/biology. Hutchins has been a consistent performer for the Sooners in cross country and currently has the best time on the team this season in the 10,000-meter run.

Freshman Emily Leonard, a 2002 Jay Myers Award winner, the highest award for an OU freshman student-athlete, was named a PACE Award winner by University College. The award is given to top one percent of the freshman class and recognizes participation, academic achievement, community involvement and excellence. Leonard, a true freshman from Plano, Texas, ran in five of seven meets for the Sooner cross country team, improving her time in each meet and has seen action this spring in distance events.