Track & Field | 6/21/2011 8:47:54 AM

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Western Oregon student-athlete Justin Karr has been awarded a prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarship.

Karr, who recently graduated from Western Oregon with a 3.99 grade point average as a double major in Psychology and Social Sciences, was one of 29 men from the NCAA Spring sports season to be awarded a one-time $7,500 scholarship. He will continue his education in the Fall at the University of Victoria in British Columbia where he will be working towards his PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology.

Karr was a four-year member of both the Western Oregon cross country and track & field teams. He ranks on the school's all-time top 10 list in the indoor 3k and the outdoor 10k. Karr was a key contributor on the men's cross country team which qualified for Nationals for the first time at the Division II level. Karr also scored points at both the GNAC indoor and outdoor championships to help Western Oregon take home both titles.

He is one of just seven winners from the Division II level, and the only member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference to earn the honor in the Spring.

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, as well as campus involvement, community service, volunteer activities and demonstrated leadership, are evaluated. An equitable approach is employed in reviewing each applicant's nomination form to provide opportunity to all student-athlete nominees 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 in an accredited graduate degree program.