August 14, 1998
EVANSTON, Ill. - Women's swimmer Joy Stover (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence), women's fencer Michelle Schaffner (Upland, Calif./The Webb Schools) and soccer player Wendy Scholz (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) were among 37 Division I Olympic sport female athletes to whom the NCAA awarded 1998 postgraduate scholarships.
The NCAA awards the $5,000 scholarships to graduating student-athletes who maintain a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average (4.0 scale) and perform with distinction in athletic competition. Northwestern and Stanford were the only Division I schools with three women's Olympic sport scholarship recipients.
Joy Stover, an economics major, earned honorable mention All-American honors last season in the 1650-yard freestyle, grabbing 11th place at the NCAA Championships. She also was one of three Academic All-Americans on the NU women's swimming team.
Michelle Schaffner, a human communication science major, was a second-team All-American last year. She is the first women's fencing All-American in NU history. Schaffner notched a 93-23 epee record last year and her 312-117 career record makes her the University's all-time winningest women's epee fencer.
Wendy Scholz, a philosophy major, was a first-team Academic All-American last season. The goalkeeper was a second-team All-Big Ten selection and was Northwestern's Team MVP as a senior. Scholz led the Big Ten last year with 111 saves and finished second in the conference with a 1.02 goals against average.