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

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

The finalists are Corrin Nicole Drakulich, track and field, University of Georgia; Rebekah Grace Potts, cross country and track and field, Furman University; Melissa Ann Stults, basketball, University of New England; Caesar Theodore Garcia, swimming and diving, Auburn University; Craig Joseph Krenzel, football, Ohio State University; and Joaquin Fernando Zalacain, tennis, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras.

Drakulich, who was captain of Georgia's track and field team in 2003 and 2004, earned first-team academic all-America recognition in 2003. The genetics and religion major is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and volunteered as an elementary school tutor for first-grade students for whom English was a second language.

Furman's Potts was a member of the 2000 Southern Conference cross country championship team and also served as team captain for the 2002 and 2003 seasons. A chemistry major, Potts is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and has volunteered at Loaves and Fishes since 2003.

Stults, who is majoring in marine biology, has captained New England's women's basketball squad since the 2002 season and has been named to the Com- monwealth Coast Conference all-academic team for four years. In addition to working as an environmental educator, she also has volunteered for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Garcia, who recently won his second straight Division I platform diving championship, is a mechanical engineering major and was recognized as a first-team academic all-American in 2002. He has been an active member of Auburn's Student-Athlete Advisory Council since 2003.

Ohio State's Krenzel, a molecular genetics major, was a 2003 NCAA Today's Top VIII honoree and the 2003 academic all-American of the year. Krenzel, who volunteered at a local food pantry and is a frequent visitor to local hospitals, guided Ohio State to the 2002 Big Ten Conference championship and the 2002 national championship.

Zalacain served as subcaptain of the tennis squad from 2001 to 2003 and earned recognition on the dean's list from 2002 to 2004. A general sciences major, Zalacain has conducted research in cardiovascular physiology and myocardial failure. He also has spent time volunteering at La Esperanza, a school for disabled children.

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

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.