Six finalists have been selected by the NCAA Walter Byers Scholarship Committee for the annual Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarships.

Later this month, two finalists, a male and a female, will be chosen as recipients of the award.

This year's finalists are Sarah Marie Dance, swimming, Truman State University; Lindsay Day Hagerman, tennis, Washington and Lee University; Jemique Lauryn McCalley, diving, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; James Adam Davis, track and cross country, Rice University; Matthew G. Gunn, track and cross country, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; and Todd Allen Mortensen, football, University of San Diego.

Dance, an exercise science major, was a member of three national championship teams at Truman State. The 21-time all-American and two-time first-team Verizon Academic All-America honoree served as a volunteer in the emergency room at Saint Elizabeth's Hospital and was a member of the Alpha Sigma Gamma service sorority.

Washington and Lee's Hagerman served as co-captain of the 2004-05 women's tennis team and earned recognition as the Old Dominion Athletic Conference women's tennis scholar-athlete and player of the year in 2004. Hagerman, a history major, worked as a dormitory counselor and student-athlete mentor, as well as a teacher's assistant at two local high schools and a middle school.

A three-time academic all-American and the 2001-02 swimmer/
diver of the year at Tennessee, McCalley, who is majoring in microbiology, served as the 2004-05 president of the campus student-athlete advisory committee. A member of the USA Diving national and international teams, she has volunteered as a math tutor and as an assistant coach for the Tennessee Diving Junior Olympic program.

Davis, captain of the track and cross country teams at Rice, is a three-time track and field all-American selection and an eight-time Western Athletic Conference champion in the 800-meter run, 1,600-meter relay and distance medley relay. The economics major was a 2004 NCAA postgraduate scholarship winner and has volunteered at the Ben Taub Hospital Trauma Center, as well as been an active member of the campus student-athlete advisory committee.

Arkansas' Gunn is an international relations and European studies double major and a member of the 2002, 2003 and 2004 national champion Razorback track and field teams. The undergraduate chairman of the International Law Society at Arkansas, Gunn has served as speaker for the Arkansas Athletic Outreach Champions of Character Program.

As quarterback at San Diego, Mortensen set single-game and single-season records for pass attempts and completions. He also was a three-year letter-winner as quarterback at Brigham Young University. The composer and producer of a solo piano album, Mortensen has been involved with the student-athlete advisory committee at Brigham Young and San Diego. He also has volunteered as a reader and speaker at local elementary schools and was a full-time church missionary from 1998 to 2000.

Established in 1988, the Walter Byers Scholarships recognize the contributions of former NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. The awards encourage academic achievement in student-athletes. Each Byers scholar will receive a $21,500 scholarship.

Award recipients must have a 3.500 grade-point average (4.000), show evidence of superior character and leadership and demonstrate that participation in athletics has been a positive influence on personal and intellectual development.