08/16/2022
Chi Alpha Sigma announces 2021-22 postgraduate scholarship recipients
RIVER FALLS, Wis. -- Chi Alpha Sigma is proud to announce that Sophie Hansson and Julia Poole, both national champion swimmers from NC State University, have been selected as the recipients of the National College Athlete Honor Society’s Nick Mourouzis Postgraduate Scholarship for the 2021-22 academic year.
“This is the first time in Chi Alpha Sigma history that our postgraduate scholarship recipients have been teammates,” Kellen Wells-Mangold, executive director of the National College Athlete Honor Society, said. “However, the credentials that Sophie and Julia bring with them speak for themselves. These two outstanding
student-athletes are extremely deserving of this great honor. Congratulations to them, their coaches, and the NC State athletics department staff that has supported them throughout their exceptional collegiate careers.”
The two $3,500 scholarship recipients were chosen from an impressive field of nominated Chi Alpha Sigma inductees. To be eligible for selection, student-athletes must be Chi Alpha Sigma inductees from an active chapter of the National College Athlete Honor Society; be seeking their postgraduate degree in the immediate upcoming academic year; be enrolled in a full-time program of studies; have exhausted all athletic eligibility prior to starting graduate-level coursework; be formally nominated by their respective chapter advisor.
Hansson (Helsingborg, Sweden | Filbornaskolan) won a program record-tying four NCAA titles during her Wolfpack career, including a sweep of the breaststroke events in 2021. In total, she earned 22 All-America honors and won 11 ACC event titles during her collegiate career. An Olympic qualifier for both the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Games, Hansson completed her degree in business management this past spring and has been honored on the Academic All-ACC Team and the CSCAA Scholar All-America Team each of the last four seasons. For the second year in a row, she was also a First Team CoSIDA Academic All-America selection in June.
Poole (Cary, N.C. | Middle Creek) finished her career at NC State as a nine-time All-American and one-time national champion. She was a member of the 400-yard medley relay team that won the 2021 NCAA title - the first swimming title in the women’s program’s history - and broke the NCAA and US Open records with a time of 3:25.09. Poole was also a five-time Academic All-ACC honoree and a four-time CSCAA Scholar All-American for her work in the classroom.
Hansson and Poole were both inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma in the spring of 2021. The teammates are the first-ever Nick Mourouzis Postgraduate Scholarship recipients to hail from the same institution, as well as the first to come from the same athletics program. They are also the third and fourth recipients from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), as the University of North Carolina’s Katie Hoeg and the University of Louisville’s Meghan Schneider were awarded postgraduate scholarships last summer. The inaugural Nick Mourouzis Postgraduate Scholarship recipients were selected following the 2019-20 academic year with DePauw University’s Anna Foley and Gannon University’s Jocelyn Scott receiving the honor.
All-Time Chi Alpha Sigma Nick Mourouzis Postgraduate Scholarship Recipients
2019-20 Anna Foley DePauw University Women’s Golf
2019-20 Jocelyn Scott Gannon University Acrobatics and Tumbling
2020-21 Katie Hoeg University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Women’s Lacrosse
2020-21 Meghan Schneider University of Louisville Women’s Field Hockey
2021-22 Sophie Hansson North Carolina State University Women's Swimming & Diving
2021-22 Julia Poole North Carolina State University Women's Swimming & Diving
The National College Athlete Honor Society, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was founded in 1996. Theta Chi Alpha and Chi Alpha Sigma work with state chapters of two- and four-year institutions, respectively, to recognize college student-athletes who excel in their sport, the classroom, and the community. The National College Athlete Honor Society is part of an athletics community made of diverse groups and supports all efforts in the realm of diversity, equity, and inclusion.