The NCAA Walter Byers Scholarship Committee has selected six finalists for the annual Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarships.

The 2009 finalists are Elizabeth Carlton, swimming and diving, Kenyon; Kara Denby, swimming and diving, Auburn; Amy Massey, soccer, Southern California; Tim Masthay, football, Kentucky; Craig Sheedy, swimming and diving, Arizona; and Blake Strode, tennis, Arkansas.

The Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarships were established in 1988 and recognize the contributions of former NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. The awards encourage academic achievement of student-athletes. Each Byers Scholar will receive a $24,000 scholarship.

Recipients of the award must have a 3.5 grade-point average (4.0 scale), demonstrate evidence of superior character and leadership and show that participation in athletics has been a positive influence on their personal and intellectual development. Two finalists, a male and a female, will be selected in April as recipients of the 2009 Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarships.

Following are biographies on this year’s finalists.

Elizabeth Carlton

Carlton won nine national titles (two individual events, seven relays), broke a Division III record in the 50-yard freestyle and helped Kenyon capture three consecutive NCAA Division III team championships. The biology major received the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and was twice named a COSIDA/ESPN Academic All-American. Carlton conducted extensive field research and presented her findings at meetings of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. In addition to her work in the classroom and in the pool, Carlton served as a tutor and teacher assistant in the Kenyon biology and chemistry departments. She also tutored and mentored students at an elementary school, and serves on the planning committee for the Kenyon College Relay for Life. She plans to pursue a Ph.D in ecology, evolution and behavior at Indiana.

Kara Denby

Denby was a 24-time all-American at Auburn who helped her team win two national championships and three Southeastern Conference titles while setting five team records. A member of the U.S. National Team, Denby became a world champion and world record holder (400 medley relay) last spring while ranking eighth in the world in the 100 freestyle. She received two SEC Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year and two ESPN first-team Academic All-America honors. Denby graduated with a degree in zoology and will attend medical school. In addition to her academic and athletics pursuits, Denby has been active on campus and in the community, holding leadership positions in three organizations.

Amy Massey

Massey transferred to Southern California after beginning college at St. Mary’s (California). She helped the Trojans win the 2007 Division I Women’s College Cup. Her junior year she was voted “Trojan of the Year” by fellow student-athletes, coaches and athletics staff for achievement in the classroom and on the playing field. She also started a recycling program within the athletics department to continue to spread awareness and raise money for Water Wells for Africa. While in high school, Massey traveled to Malawi with Water Wells for Africa on a humanitarian and missionary trip where she served in medical clinics and played soccer with the village children. Massey traveled to Malawi for a second time before her sophomore year. She returned from the trip only weeks before training camp. Massey prepared for camp by running alongside the bus, as the missions team traveled between villages. Crowds of children joined her on her runs. The communications major was a Rhodes Scholarship finalist in 2008. She has been accepted at the University of Oxford, where she plans to pursue a master’s degree in forced migration and play for the Oxford Football Club. 

Tim Masthay

Masthay, a first-team all-Southeastern Conference punter in 2008, also won the Kentucky Jerry Claiborne Award for academics and team attitude in 2008 and was named an ESPN The Magazine Academic all-American. His community service includes participating in organizations that provide Christmas meals and gifts for underprivileged families in Central Kentucky, and contributing to a project called Circles of Influence that provided food for elementary school students in Haiti. He also traveled to Ghana, where he helped in projects at a school and an orphanage.

Craig Sheedy

Sheedy, a diver, was a team co-captain and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee member. He will graduate in May with a B.S. with honors in biochemistry and molecular biophysics, and a second major in physiology and a minor in Spanish. Sheedy has contributed three years of biomedical research and is an officer in the biochemistry club, while also serving his department as an ambassador and peer tutor. He is also active in the community, having been involved in service projects with the Boys/Girls Club and Grace Home, while also volunteering weekly at the Tucson Medical Center in the pediatrics unit. He will be pursuing a doctorate of medicine beginning in August, aiming to specialize in pediatrics.

Blake Strode

Strode is majoring in international economics and Spanish at Arkansas. He is enrolled in the Honors College and is a recipient of the university’s prestigious Bodenhamer Fellowship. He was the recipient of the 2008 Central Region ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship and is a two-time all-Southeastern Conference performer. In the classroom, Strode earned a pair of ESPN The Magazine all-district honors, was the 2008 SEC Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year and is a multiple-time member of the Arkansas Athletics Department and SEC Academic honor rolls. Strode was also recently selected to represent his university as a finalist for the SEC’s H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Award.