June 13, 2012
IRVING, Texas - Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky named the 12 recipients of the Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship Awards today. This is the fourth year the award has been named for Dr. Castañeda, who served Rice University for 46 years as an educator, coach and Faculty Athletics Representative before he passed away in November 2008. The conference annually presents the $4,000 Postgraduate Scholarship awards to graduates as selected by the C-USA Faculty Athletics Representatives and approved by the Board of Directors.
Complete Postgraduate Scholarship Release 
2011-12 POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS:
Kimberly "Kimmy" Cummings, East Carolina, Women's Soccer
Roxana Button, Houston, Women's Basketball
Tyson Gale, Marshall, Football
Parker Duncan, Memphis, Men's Soccer
Rebecca "Becky" Wade, Rice, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Silje Fjortoft, SMU, Women's Cross Country
Lisa Knecht, Southern Miss, Volleyball
Michael Mainguy, Tulane, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field
Gabriel Moyer, Tulsa, Football
TaRonda Randall, UAB, Women's Basketball
Spencer Scott, UCF, Men's Soccer
Adriana Fuentes, UTEP, Women's Tennis
Kimberly "Kimmy" Cummings, East Carolina, Women's Soccer
Cummings was a four-year letterwinner on the Pirate soccer team, serving as captain her senior season. The midfielder earned ECU's MVP and Most Valuable Offensive Player award. Cummings was also a two-time All-Conference USA selection and received a spot on the NSCAA All-Central Region Team. A native of Mechanicsville, Va., Cummings graduated summa cum laude in May with a bachelor's of science in business management, marketing and management information systems. Her 3.921 GPA earned her honors on the Dean's List, the C-USA All-Academic women's soccer team, Capital One/Co-SIDA Academic All-District Team and NSCAA Academic All-America Team.
Roxana Button, Houston, Women's Basketball
A 2012 first-team All-Conference USA selection, Button lettered four seasons for the Cougars and served as captain her senior year. As a junior, she was a key member of the UH team that won the C-USA regular-season title and earned a spot in the national rankings. Button, who originally hails from Coppell, Texas, graduated in December 2011 with a 3.87 GPA as a psychology major with a chemistry minor. She was named to the Capital One/CoSIDA All-America first team and was a three-time C-USA All-Academic Team selection. Button has been accepted and will attend the Texas Tech Paul L. Foster School of Medicine.
Tyson Gale, Marshall, Football
Gale was a four-year letterwinner at linebacker for the Marshall football team. He was credited with 151 career tackles, including 62 solo stops. Gale recorded a sack in the Herd's 20-10 win over FIU in the 2011 Beef `O' Brady's Bowl and was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week as he made the game-changing pick in MU's 17-13 victory over Louisville. As a senior, the exercise physiology major was recognized with academic all-conference and all-district honors. He was also the recipient of the 2012 Cam Henderson Scholarship as he maintained a 3.73 GPA throughout his career. A native of Alva, Okla., Gale will stay at Marshall to work on a master's degree in sport administration.
Parker Duncan, Memphis, Men's Soccer
Duncan started all 18 games for the Memphis soccer team in 2011, scoring two goals and adding five assists, while maintaining a 3.88 GPA. He was named to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team, the highest academic honor bestowed to a player in the history of the program. The Johnson City, Tenn., native was a four-time recipient of the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal and graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology with a chemistry minor. He also earned a spot on the men's soccer C-USA All-Academic Team for three-straight years. Duncan plans to continue his education this fall at the University of Tennessee School of Medicine.
Rebecca "Becky" Wade, Rice, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Wade received her bachelor's degree from Rice in history, psychology and sociology, graduating with a 4.02 GPA. She earned 11 varsity letters during her career as a member of both the cross country and track and field teams. As a senior, she received All-America honors on the cross country course, track and in the classroom. She holds the school records for the Indoor 5K, Outdoor 5K and Outdoor 10K. In addition to receiving the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal every year of her career, Wade was also awarded the Weber-Derkheim Award that is given annually to two graduating seniors in the sociology department. The Dallas, Texas, native will spend 12 months exploring running cultures around the world through the Watson Fellowship. Upon her August 2013 return, she intends to seek an advanced degree in sports sociology, demography or criminology.
Silje Fjortoft, SMU, Women's Cross Country
Fjortoft was the 2011 C-USA women's cross country individual champion and C-USA Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year. She repeated both honors in 2008. She placed second at the 2007 and 2009 C-USA Championships and became the only student-athlete in the South Central region to win the NCAA Regional Championship three times. Fjortoft earned her bachelor's in applied physiology with a minor in German and was recognized as a member of the SMU Honor Roll of Distinction (top 10 percent) for the last seven semesters. The Orsta, Norway, native has applied to graduate programs in her home country and in Sweden.
Lisa Knecht, Southern Miss, Volleyball
A four-year letterwinner and three-year starter, Knecht was a key contributor to the Golden Eagle volleyball team as a libero/defensive specialist. She tallied 1,537 digs for her career and, as a senior, was a two-time Defensive Player of the Week selection and was named to the all-conference second team. She was also named to the 2011 C-USA All-Academic volleyball team and was a four-year recipient of the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal. The Metairie, La., graduated summa cum laude with a 3.953 GPA as an exercise science major. Knecht has applied to LSU School of Medicine at New Orleans for physical therapy.
Michael Mainguy, Tulane, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field
Mainguy lettered as a member of both the Green Wave cross country and track & field teams, while completing a challenging load of coursework as a neuroscience major. He was a four-time recipient of the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal and twice was selected to Tulane Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Mainguy will be graduating summa cum laude with honors as he carried a 3.9 GPA. He was named to the Dean's list every semester of his college career and received the Arnold Gerrall Award for Neuroscience. The native of Brookline, Mass., is currently applying to medical schools for 2013-14.
Gabriel Moyer, Tulsa, Football
Moyer spent three years on the Tulsa offensive line, lettering twice and helping the high-powered Golden Hurricane offense to a pair of bowl games. He has already earned his bachelor's degree in management with a minor in human resource management. The Oklahoma City, Okla., native has been accepted into TU's MBA program.
TaRonda Randall, UAB, Women's Basketball
Randall received her bachelor's of arts in political science with a minor in history and marketing in May. The Greenville, Ala., native was a four-year letterwinner for the Blazer basketball team and spent two years as captain, including her junior year when UAB won the 2011 WBI title. Randall twice earned Presidential Honors during her career and is a four-time recipient of the C-USA Commission's Academic Medal and the 2012 C-USA Winter Spirit of Service Award. She has applied to the University of Alabama School for Law.
Spencer Scott, UCF, Men's Soccer
Scott was a four-year letterwinner for the Knights and served on the Men's Soccer Leadership Council and as vice president of SAAC. He was named his coaches' Player of the Year in 2011 as a senior. The Palm City, Fla., native also earned a spot on the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll, in addition to the UCF President's Honor Roll and Dean's List six times. He graduated in May with a degree in political science, on a pre-law track, with a minor in criminal justice and history. Scott will be attending the University of Florida's Levin College of Law in the fall.
Adriana Fuentes, UTEP, Women's Tennis
Fuentes was the Miner women's tennis team MVP this season. She led the team in dual match wins and ranks eighth in school history with a combined 102 victories. Fuentes served on UTEP's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll five times. In May, she graduated with a degree in business marketing and held a minor in management and international business. Fuentes came to UTEP from her hometown of Mexico City, Mexico, where she ranked among the country's top 5 players. She is currently applying to MBA programs.
CONFERENCE USA
Conference USA (C-USA) is a NCAA Division I-A Conference based in Irving, Texas. Its membership consists of 12 schools - East Carolina University, University of Houston, Marshall University, University of Memphis, Rice University, Southern Methodist University (SMU), University of Southern Mississippi, Tulane University, University of Tulsa, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), University of Central Florida (UCF) and University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). This realignment was formed on July 1, 2005, and the Conference was first established in 1995. C-USA offers 20 sports total, nine sports for men (baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis and indoor and outdoor track and field) and 11 for women (basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, rowing, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field and volleyball).
