Six finalists have been named for the NCAA Walter Byers Scholarships, which will be awarded this spring.

The NCAA Walter Byers Scholarship Committee will select the two recipients from the three male and three female finalists later this month.

Two gymnasts are among the women's finalists. One is Natalie Halbach, team captain at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the other is Poppy Major from the University of California, Davis. The other women's finalist is Britt Themann, a basketball student-athlete at Tulane University.

Halbach has received several academic awards, including the North Carolina Director of Athletics scholar-athlete award. Major co-founded and directs a program to help special-needs children meet their full potential alongside non-special needs peers. Themann helped organize Tulane's first student-athlete "training table" and has earned numerous academic and athletics accolades, including the Tulane scholar-athlete of the year in 2002.

The men's finalists include Matthew Emmons, rifle team captain at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Emmons is a multiple-time national champion and two-time USA Shooting athlete of the year. He also is the only shooter in collegiate history to post a perfect 400 in air rifle.

Another men's finalist is David Lofthus, the swimming and diving team captain at Johns Hopkins University. Lofthus is a multiple-time all-American in athletics competition and academic performance. He also is a published poet.

McLain Schneider also is a men's finalist. He is a football student-athlete at the University of North Dakota who led his team to a national championship in 2001. Schneider has earned several academic awards, and he started Holiday Magic from Markus, a charity that gives holiday gifts to hospitalized children in honor of a young football fan who died of cancer.

The Walter Byers Scholarships, established in 1988 to recognize the contributions of former NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers, encourages academic excellence in student-athletes. Each Byers scholar receives a $21,500 scholarship from the NCAA.

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