June 17, 2003

WACO, Texas - Baylor's Whitney Barrett (soccer) and Ross Bennett (baseball) were two of 24 student-athletes honored by the Big 12 Conference with $5,000 postgraduate scholarships, the league announced Tuesday.

Barrett, a senior from Albuquerque, N.M., became the Baylor soccer program's second Academic All-American last fall when she earned third-team honors. A four-year letterwinner, Barrett finished her career among the Bears' career leaders in points and consecutive games played. She was a three-time Academic All-Big 12 First-Team selection and twice was named Academic All-District. Barrett plans to go to med school and/or work as a medical missionary after graduating from Baylor.

Bennett earned first-team Academic All-America honors this season after hitting .354 (third-best on the team) with four home runs and 46 RBI. A senior biochemistry/pre-dental major from Cape Girardeau, Mo., Bennett is a three-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection (2000, 2002, 2003). Bennett earned four letters in baseball and twice was named to the coaches' All-Big 12 team (2002, 2003). He plans to pursue postgraduate studies in dentistry at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

This marks the third straight year in which two Bears were selected by the league to receive this honor. Barrett and Bennett join Doug Maziur (track and field, 1997-98), Kerry O'Bric (track and field, 2000-01), Mark Williams (men's tennis, 2000-01), Lanie Millar (track and field, 2001-02) and Tim Hartshorn (baseball, 2001-02) on the list of Big 12 postgraduate scholarship winners from Baylor.

A committee of three faculty representatives, one senior woman administrator and one director of athletics form the selection group for the prestigious awards, which help the youngsters to continue their formal education. Criteria for these awards include a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, participation in at least two years of intercollegiate athletics at the scholar-athlete's respective institution, and completion of athletics' eligibility. They must graduate from their member institutions within 15 months of selection as postgraduate scholarship recipients and are expected to enroll in graduate/professional schools within two years after graduation.

The $2,500 individual annual grants began in 1996-97 and were raised to $5,000 in 1999. Since May 1997, the Big 12 Conference has provided $392,500 in financial aid to deserving recipients. The Big 12 Conference Board of Directors for the 2002-03 academic year provided 24 postgraduate scholarships (12 men, 12 women) to increase the opportunities for a growing number of applicants.

2002-03 Big 12 Postgraduate Scholarship Award Recipients

Ross Bennett, Baylor               	baseball
Whitney Barrett, Baylor                 soccer
Tara Goedjen, Iowa State                women's tennis
Cody Stafford, Iowa State               football
Tim Doty, Kansas State                  baseball
Amy Mortimer, Kansas State             	women's track
Kyle Eaton, Oklahoma State              football
Linda Faltynkova, Oklahoma State   	women's tennis
Benjamin Hooker, Texas A&M          	men's track
Jamie Mishler, Texas A&M                equestrian
Stacey Poole, Texas Tech                volleyball
John Walker, Texas Tech                 men's tennis
Stephen Carroll, Colorado               men's golf
Dominique Lemperle, Colorado         	women's tennis
Case Collard, Kansas                    football
Gwen Haley, Kansas                      women's swimming
Radu Miclaus, Missouri                  men's swimming
Tiffany Bohon, Missouri                 women's swimming
Laura Pilakowski, Nebraska              volleyball/w. basketball
Ryan Sneed, Nebraska                    men's gymnastics
Chris Mitchell, Oklahoma                men's tennis
Stephanie Simon, Oklahoma               women's basketball
Erin Sims, Texas                        women's track
Sean Foley, Texas                       men's swimming