Monday, June 28, 2010

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Belmont women's cross country and track runner Brittany Thune (Sioux Falls, S.D.) was recently named a recipient of a coveted NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. She was one of only 29 female student-athletes who competed during the spring sports season across all NCAA Divisions (I, II, or III) selected to receive the 2009-10 Spring Scholarship.

She becomes the fifth Belmont student-athlete and the first female student-athlete to receive the non-renewable grant of $7,500 from the NCAA, joining former men's basketball players Andy Wicke, Justin Hare and Adam Mark, and former men's tennis and soccer player Marcos Cabrera.

Thune became another first earlier this month when she was honored as a 2009-10 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Women's Track and Field and Cross Country Third Team selection, becoming the first cross country/track and field athlete, male or female, and only the ninth Belmont student-athlete on any athletic team to garner the recognition. Thune was also the recipient of three of the Atlantic Sun Conference's most prestigious awards - Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Postgraduate Scholarship and the league's nomination for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Earning the A-Sun Runner of the Year nod for second-consecutive year in 2010, Thune came away with the individual title last fall. She also received All-Conference honors in each of her four seasons, including Freshman of the Year in 2006, and helped lead the Bruins to dominate the league winning three consecutive team championships (2006-2008). A three-time Atlantic Sun Runner of the Week, Thune was also a two-time NCAA cross country regional qualifier and a Division I South Region USTFCCC All-Region selection.