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Kim Black Named Recipient Of The Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship

May 4, 2001

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - The list of accomplishments for Kim Black continues to grow as the Georgia senior was honored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association with The Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship. Black, a member of Lady Bulldog swimming and diving team, is the first Georgia athlete and only the third swimmer to win the award.

In 1988, the NCAA established the Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship Program as a means of recognizing the contributions of the former executive director through encouraging excellence in academic performance by student-athletes. Under this program, one male and one female student-athlete will be awarded a postgraduate scholarship in recognition of outstanding academic achievement and potential for success in postgraduate study. Those honored as a Byers Scholar are recognized as one who has combined the best elements of mind and body to achieve national distinction for his or her achievements and promises to be a future leader in his or her chosen field of career service.

A native of Liverpool, N.Y., Black helped the Lady Bulldogs to their third straight NCAA championship and fifth consecutive SEC title this year. She was a member of the winning 800-yard freestyle relay team at the 2001 NCAAs and SECs, and she set season-bests in three events at SECs. Black will be a member of the World University Games team after an eighth-place finish in the 200-meter freestyle at World Trials. She will be competing in the 800-meter free relay, the same event she earned a gold medal in at the 2000 Olympic Games. The World University Games will take place in Beijing, China, Aug. 22-Sept. 1.

The honors have been pouring in over the last two weeks, as Black was honored as the Verizon Academic All-America Fall/Winter Women's At-Large Team Member of the Year as announced by Verizon and the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She was recognized by the Boy Scouts of America (Atlanta division) by receiving the Peach of an Athlete Award, as well as being the female recipient of the 2000-2001 H. Boyd McWhorter Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.

Black, who is the daughter of James and Nancy Black, is a two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and a Presidential Scholar at Georgia. During her freshman year at Ohio State University, Black was an OSU Scholar-Athlete and a member of the Dean's List.

Black has been active in many community service and campus activities, such as Athens-Clarke County Mentor Program, Athens Regional Medical Center and has spoken to numerous elementary schools about setting goals and her experiences at the 2000 Olympic Games. She also has been a member of the Alpha Lamda Delta, Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Epsilon Delta honor societies. She was a State of Georgia finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship and a 2000-01 Ramsey Scholar as one of the top 10 Georgia athletes by grade-point average. Black plans on entering medical school following her undergraduate study at Georgia.

Past winners of the Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship include Matthew Busbee from Auburn (swimming, 2000), Tracey Holmes of Kentucky (golf, 1996), Kenyon College's Carla Ainsworht (swimming, 1995), Rob Pelinka of Michigan (basketball, 1993) and Regina Cavanagh from Rice University (track and field, 1989).