The NCAA Walter Byers Scholarship Committee has chosen six finalists to be considered for the annual scholarships.

Two finalists, a male and a female, will be selected later this month as recipients of the award.

The 2006 finalists are Brian Francis Flaherty, swimming and diving, University of Denver; Tyler Ross Harlan, cross country, Vanderbilt University; Bryan Christopher Norrington, track and field, Colorado College; Anne Golden Bersagel, cross country and track and field, Wake Forest University; Jessica Erin Guyer, gymnastics, Bowling Green State University; and Erin Michelle Hanna, softball, Colgate University.

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

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

Following are brief summaries of the finalists’ accomplishments.

Flaherty

A biochemistry and molecular biology major with a mathematics minor, Flaherty captained the Denver swimming and diving squad in 2005. The two-time Denver scholar-athlete of the year also is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He has volunteered with Girl Scouts of America and the Denver Children’s Hospital and has served as a biology laboratory teaching assistant, a chemistry tutor and a research intern with the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center. Flaherty plans to attend medical school to become a clinical researcher in the fight against cancer.

Harlan

Vanderbilt’s 2005 male scholar athlete of the year and two-time captain of the cross country squad, Harlan is an anthropology and East Asian studies major. He has worked as a peer counselor in the office of study abroad and has volunteered at the School for the Deaf in Hangzhou, China, where he helped organize a school program filmed by local television stations. In addition, he has counseled, tutored and helped organize activities and fund-raisers for inner-city students. Harlan plans to pursue a doctorate in cultural anthropology.

Norrington

Norrington, who captained the track and field team in 2004, is an international political economy major with minors in Asian studies, Black studies and Central American culture and society at Colorado College. The co-president of the Black Student Union also has been involved in a mentoring program at a local middle school. Norrington, who has studied abroad in Costa Rica, Japan, the Czech Republic, Senegal and Canada, plans to pursue a dual master’s degree in public affairs and urban and regional planning.

Bersagel

A three-time all-American in cross country and a five-time academic all-American, Bersagel was twice recognized as Wake Forest’s scholar-athlete of the year. She is a two-time conference champion in the outdoor 10,000 meters and is the 2005 league champion in the indoor 5,000 meters. Bersagel has interned with the U.S. State Department at the embassy in Oslo, Norway, and has volunteered as a reading tutor at local elementary and middle schools. She also served as vice-president of Wake Forest’s Amnesty International chapter. The political science and economics major plans to earn a master’s degree in public policy.

Guyer

A biological science major and chemistry minor, Guyer is a three-time academic all-American. She was Bowling Green’s 2003 freshman of the year in gymnastics and captained the team in 2005-06. Guyer also was vice-president of the school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a participant at the 2005 NCAA Leadership Conference. The Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society member has volunteered in the obstetrics and gynocology clinic at a local hospital and at the Toledo Soup Kitchen. In addition, she has participated in Bowling Green’s dance marathon to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network and the American Heart Association Heart Walk. Guyer plans to attend medical school.

Hanna

As a four-year member of Colgate’s softball team, Hanna, a tri-captain in 2005-06, earned first-team all-Patriot League honors and was a member of the 2003 league championship team. In addition to working as a quantitative research methods teacher’s assistant, she has worked with the Upstate Law Project, served as a women’s rights intern with Centro de Mujeres IXCHEN in Nicaragua and as a psychology intern in a child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient unit. She also was a social volunteer in Spain. Hanna is a psychology and Spanish major who plans to pursue a law degree.