Adds Honor to Several ODAC Academic Awards

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- Washington and Lee senior cross country and track & field athlete Elizabeth Webb (Middleburg, Va./Wakefield) has been awarded a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Postgraduate Scholarships. The award is a $7,500 scholarship for academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time graduate student.

Webb and fellow WLU classmate Paul Crook (men's swimming - also honored) were two of 58 student-athletes (29 men and 29 women) from all NCAA Divisions to receive the scholarship after participating in a winter sport. The NCAA awards 174 scholarships annually in the fall, winter and spring seasons. Crook and Webb's selections give W&L 11 winners in the last seven years and 30 W&L athletes have been so honored since 1970.

A biochemistry major, Webb is a four-year letterwinner and team captain for both the cross country and track & field teams.  As a cross country runner, she was a two-time First Team All-ODAC and First Team All-South/Southeast Region selection.  She finished second at the 2008 ODAC Championship (21:41.75) and qualified for the 2008 NCAA Championship, where she finished 115th out of 280 runners.

In track & field, Webb helped lead the Generals to their first-ever ODAC Indoor Track & Field Championship this winter after winning the 800 meters (2:20.92) and mile (5:10.59) in ODAC Championship Meet Record times. She has twice been named the ODAC Outdoor Championship Performer of the Meet and has collected the ODAC/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award for both indoor and outdoor track & field each of the past two seasons.  This winter, she also competed at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, placing ninth in the mile run (5:03.90).

An Indoor Track & Field Academic All-American and recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, Webb holds indoor school records for the 800 meters (2:20.46), mile (5:00.91) and distance medley relay (12:28.91) and the outdoor school records for the 800 meters (2:17.34) and the 1,500 meters (4:37.90).

"I am both honored and thrilled to receive this scholarship," said Webb. "This scholarship marks one of the first steps in the realization of my dream of becoming a doctor. I would like to thank Dr. Erich Uffelman, Dr. Ellen Mayock, coach Nate Hoey and coach Kris Hoey not only for facilitating this application process, but also for their unwavering encouragement.  The support and guidance of these professors and coaches has shaped me into the student-athlete I am today."

Upon graduation, Webb will be traveling to Australia on a Fulbright Scholarship to study melanoma at the University of Queensland. She hopes to attend medical school when she returns stateside.

This release is courtesy of the Washington and Lee University sports information department.