INDIANAPOLIS - Cassie Callahan, a four-year standout for the UC San Diego women's soccer program, has been awarded a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
Callahan has been a shining example of a Triton student-athlete throughout her career on the La Jolla campus. The local product out of Coronado and Coronado High School was a 2012 All-American on the field, and a three-time Capital One Academic All-American in the classroom.
Callahan only missed one game that UCSD played during her four years, and started all but one of those, with 79 appearances in all. She compiled 64 points from 23 goals, including 11 game-winners, and 18 assists. To cap her All-American 2012 campaign, she scored the opening goal and assisted on the decider as the Tritons knocked off Grand Valley State, 2-1, in the NCAA semifinal round in Evans, Ga., before finishing as the national runners-up. They had previously won a record eighth California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) tournament championship.
For her career, Callahan was a three-time All-CCAA First Team and four-time All-West Region selection, two-time team captain, and 2011 CCAA Freshman of the Year. UCSD went 46-18-16 (.675) over her four years, with two NCAA Championship and three CCAA Championship appearances, one West Region and one CCAA tournament title, and one national runner-up showing.
Just as remarkable has been Callahan's academic career. She has maintained a 3.87 cumulative grade-point average as a mathematics major at Warren College, with a minor in cognitive science. With a sophomore requirement, Callahan last November became just the fifth Triton student-athlete to achieve the incredibly difficult Academic All-America status for a maximum third time. She is also a two-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Scholar All-West Region First Team and four-time CCAA All-Academic pick, among numerous other awards.
Callahan will complete her undergraduate degree requirements in June. She has already been accepted into graduate school at UCSD for a Master of Education and Single Subject Teaching Credential in mathematics, and will begin right away. The two-year program starts her on her way to a career in teaching math either at the high school or perhaps college level further down the line, following the path of her mother, Susan Working, herself a UCSD graduate and college math professor. Callahan also intends to stay involved in soccer in a coaching capacity.
"I am so incredibly grateful to receive this scholarship," said Callahan. "Athletics and academics have both been such a huge part of my life, so it feels great that all the hard work I put into academics and athletics at UCSD seems to have paid off. I am very thankful for everyone who helped me throughout this scholarship process."
"Cassie is without a doubt one of the best players to have worn the UCSD uniform," stated longtime UCSD head coach Brian McManus. "She was a starter for four years, and one of the most skilled and hardest-working players we have ever had in our program. Her leadership and example both off and on the park will be sorely missed. All her accolades over the past four seasons speak for themselves.
"Cassie could easily have gone to any one of the Division I schools that were making offers to her, but she made up her mind freshman year of high school that she was coming to UCSD for the education, and it is now very satisfying to see that she has been accepted into graduate school here at UCSD."
"UC San Diego has a long history of NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship award winners, and Cassie is a well-deserved addition to that list," remarked senior associate athletics director and sport administrator Ken Grosse. "She has been a standout athlete, produced consistently in the classroom, and is regularly engaged in campus and community service activities. As she follows her passion for mathematics in graduate school, she will continue to be a great representative of what Triton Athletics is all about."
The NCAA awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically, and who are at least in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition.
The one-time, non-renewable scholarships of $7,500 are awarded three times a year, for fall sports, winter sports and spring sports. Each sports season, there are 29 scholarships available for men and 29 scholarships available for women, for use in an accredited graduate program.
Callahan is the third UCSD student-athlete to be chosen by the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Committee over the past two academic years, following fellow All-Americans Andisheh Bagheri of men's soccer and Luke Calkins of men's swimming and diving in 2013-14. The three previous Triton honorees were swimmer Jessica Ferguson, track and field athlete Kelly Fogarty and tennis player Vincent Nguyen, all in 2010-11.
A total of 30 student-athletes have now earned the distinction of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship at UC San Diego, which has a rich tradition of both academic and athletic excellence.
NCAA POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP MISSION STATEMENT
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. Athletics and academic achievements, campus involvement, community service, volunteer activities and demonstrated leadership are evaluated. An equitable approach is employed in reviewing an applicant's nomination form to provide all student-athlete nominees an opportunity to receive the postgraduate award, regardless of sport, division, gender or race. In maintaining the highest broad-based standards in the selection process, the program aims to reward those individuals whose dedication and effort are reflective of those characteristics necessary to succeed and thrive through postgraduate study.
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