NCAA Announcement

INDIANAPOLIS – Slippery Rock University track & field standout Anna Igims was announced Monday as one of 21 female spring sport student-athletes from all levels of the NCAA to be a recipient of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
 
Igims will receive a $10,000 scholarship from the NCAA to finish her graduate degree work.
 
Each year, the NCAA awards 126 postgraduate scholarships to student-athletes who have completed their final year of athletics competition. The scholarships are distributed three times annually — in the fall, winter and spring — providing 21 scholarships each to men and women per season. The award is a one-time, nonrenewable scholarship aimed at funding graduate study at an accredited institution.
 
Established in 1964, the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship program promotes and encourages graduate education by recognizing the Association's most accomplished student-athletes. The program evaluates candidates on their athletic and academic achievements, campus involvement, community service and leadership. An equitable selection process ensures that all nominees, regardless of sport, division, gender or race, are considered fairly.
 
Igims is one of a handful of winners from the NCAA Division II level and is the only student-athlete from the Division II Atlantic Region to earn one of the scholarships this spring. She joins a stellar field of winners that includes multiple athletes from major Division I colleges, including Georgia, Texas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Texas Tech and Ohio State.
 
A graduate student from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Igims earned her undergraduate degree from Slippery Rock in 2024 after graduating with a 3.98 GPA with a degree in school wellness education. She recently finished a full year of graduate work in the applied behavioral analysis program at SRU with a perfect 4.0 GPA while she completed her final year of athletics eligibility.
 
The postgraduate award is the latest in a long and growing list of accomplishments for Igims, who was just named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year last week. That recognition came after she went undefeated in PSAC competition in 2024-25, winning seven conference titles and leading The Rock women to three team titles as well.
 
Igims was the PSAC and Atlantic Region Cross Country Athlete of the Year after winning PSAC and regional titles in the fall before she went on to become the first SRU female cross country runner to earn All-America honors since 2010. She followed that up by winning a trio of PSAC titles during the indoor track & field season while breaking the SRU record in the mile and posting a top 16 time nationally in the 5,000-meter run. Igims then closed out the year by winning three more PSAC titles at the outdoor conference meet, where she was named the Most Outstanding Track Athlete and the Overall MVP of the meet. She closed the outdoor season by earning her second straight first team All-America honor in the steeplechase and finished the spring with new SRU records in the steeplechase and the 5,000-meter run.
 
In total, Igims won seven individual PSAC titles and three team titles, earned nine All-Region awards and a picked up a pair of first team All-America plaudits in 2024-25. She closed her career as a 14-time PSAC champion, a 21-time All-PSAC and All-Region honoree, a three-time All-American and a three-time SRU school record holder.
 
In addition to her excellence on the track, Igims was also recognized for academic excellence numerous times in her career. In addition to the PSAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, Igims is also a seven-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree, a five-time PSAC Top 10 award winner, a five-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete, a five-time D2ADA Academic Achievement honoree, a three-time CSC Academic All-District selection and a CSC Academic All-American.
 
Igims is currently on the 2024-25 ballot for the Academic All-America team and is also the SRU female nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award and the NCAA Impact Award. She plans to use the NCAA scholarship to complete her master's degree in applied behavioral analysis.
 
2025 Female Spring Sport NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Awardees

• Savanna Brooks, Wingate, softball
• Megan Bunker, Regis (Colorado), lacrosse
• Avery Decker, Nebraska Wesleyan, outdoor track and field
• Liz Dierks, Augustana (South Dakota), softball
• Ella Ford, Nebraska Wesleyan, tennis
• Elizabeth Hennessey, Colby, lacrosse
• Leandra Hogrefe, Ohio State, rowing
• Anna Igims, Slippery Rock, outdoor track and field
• Janaki Jagannathan, Wooster, tennis
• Emma Kelley, Washington University in St. Louis, outdoor track and field
• Kylee Loewe, Texas Tech, golf
• Lucia Lopez Ortega, San Jose State, golf
• Phoebe McCowan, Kentucky, outdoor track and field
• Charlotte Newport, Augustana (Illinois), water polo
• Lanie Nitsch, Texas, rowing
• Michaela Pomatto, Stockton, outdoor track and field
• Jenna Rogers, Nebraska, outdoor track and field
• Darja Vidmanova, Georgia, tennis
• Heidi Vortherms, West Texas A&M, softball
• Jami Watson, East Central, softball
• Angie Zhou, Pomona-Pitzer, tennis

 


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