July 5, 2012

LOS ANGELES - UCLA's Nick Meister (men's tennis), Mark Weber (men's track & field), Charney Burk (women's soccer) and Brooke Finley (softball) are four of 48 conference student-athletes who have been named recipients of Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarships for 2011-12, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott announced on Thursday.

These $3,000 awards go to student-athletes with a minimum 3.0 grade point average who have also demonstrated a commitment to continuing education, campus and community involvement, and leadership. Since the program began in 1999, the Pac-12 has awarded over $1.5 million for postgraduate study.

To be eligible for a Pac-10 postgraduate scholarship a student-athlete must have an overall grade-point average of 3.00 (based on a 4.00 scale) or its equivalent, be in his/her final season of intercollegiate athletics eligibility in all sports or be in his/her final year of undergraduate studies, have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity team, intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time student in a graduate or professional program, and have behaved both on and off the field in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution and intercollegiate athletics.

Meister (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) earned All-America honors in singles this past season, helping UCLA reach the semifinals of the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga. The first-team All-Pac-12 Academic selection ended his senior season listed at No. 25 nationally in the final ITA singles rankings. Weber (Oceanside, Calif.) is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic honoree who qualified to the NCAA Preliminaries in the shot put as a junior and senior. Finley (San Diego, Calif.) was a NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete in 2011 and earned the Athletic Director's Academic Excellence Award for making the Director's Honor Roll (3.0 or higher GPA) every quarter at UCLA. Like Finley, Burk (North Tustin, Calif.) also earned the Athletic Director's Academic Excellence Award, playing in 16 matches for the Bruins in 2011, recording two assists.