Men's cross country and track & field standout Brett Lucas has been named a spring recipient of the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship as announced by the NCAA Thursday morning.
The award, which is a $10,000 scholarship that can be applied toward a student's current or future graduate degree programs, is annually bestowed upon student-athletes who excel academically and athletically while also serving as leaders in the community.
Lucas is the third Eagle to receive the high honor this academic calendar, joining former swimming standouts Pat Pema and Zoe Walker, and brings Emory's all-time total to 125 in its history. Emory has seen 108 student-athletes receive the award since 2000, the second-most for any NCAA member institution behind only Stanford University.
Lucas recently completed his Emory career this past year as a key leader of the Eagles' cross country and track & field programs. In the fall, he was instrumental in leading the Eagles to one of the best seasons in men's cross country history. As a fixture on the roster, Lucas helped the team reach its highest national ranking ever at No. 8 and spearheaded the team to its first-ever UAA championship at the end of October. He earned First Team All-UAA honors by placing fourth out of 75 runners and raced to All-Region acclaim with a fifth place showing as the Eagles captured the regional title. During the track seasons, he was an All-Region performer in the indoor 3000m and outdoor 10,000m and secured hirst first-ever All-UAA acclaim by taking third in the 3000m to help the Eagles finish third at the indoor meet. He was fourth in the 10,000m at the outdoor conference meet, helping the Eagles turn in another third place finish. He finished his career as a three-time All-Region and two-time All-UAA runner in cross country and collected three All-Region honors on the track.
Away from competition, Brett finished with a 3.82 GPA as a Biology major and plans to pursue a degree in Doctor of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. He logged over 150 hours as a volunteer dental assistant at non-profit Willow Creek Dental Clinic and has volunteered with Snack in a Backpack and Operation Smile programs. He also was part of the Emory Pre-Dental Society across his undergraduate career.