WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Graduating seniors and multi-year Academic All-Big Ten honorees Hanna House and Chris Bals of swimming & diving have been selected as Purdue Athletics' recipients of the annual Big Ten postgraduate scholarships for the 2017-18 school year.
House (Carmel, Ind.) and Bals (South Bend, Ind.) will each receive a $7,500 scholarship for their continuing education.
House is a biology major with a 3.95 grade-point average. She is set to continue her education at the Indiana University Medical School in Indianapolis. Bals is an accounting major with a 3.46 GPA who will also be pursuing a master's of accounting at Purdue.
Since the Big Ten introduced the two postgraduate scholarships awarded to every institution at the end of the 2012-13 school year, House and Bals are already the third set of Purdue swimmers to be recognized. Lauren Gustafson and Alec LaMothe were the Boilermakers' inaugural honorees in 2013. Carly Marshall and Miguel Gutierrez were also recognized in the spring of 2015.
House and Bals both rank among the Purdue all-time top 10 in multiple events. Last month, they were honored as Academic All-Big Ten student-athletes for the third straight year as Purdue swim-dive accounted for 45 of the Boilermakers' 62 honorees for the winter sports season. House and Bals have also been recognized as honorable mention Scholar All-Americans by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America.
"Hanna's curiosity, work ethic and dedication to both academic and athletic excellence has set the standard for student-athletes in our program," women's coach John Klinge said. "She is going to be a terrific doctor and we wish her the best of luck in medical school next year."
"Chris has created a great balance in his life over his four years at Purdue," men's coach Dan Ross said. "He has found a way to be a great swimmer, leader and a brilliant student. He was elected as a team captain for his senior year and is very deserving of this honor along with the related scholarship. I am very proud of Chris and what he and his fellow seniors have done in changing the culture of our team, both in the classroom and pool."
Bals won the B final of the 100 breaststroke at Big Tens as a senior. He finished his final season with career-best times in the 100 (53.24) and 200 breast (1:57.14), moving up to fourth place in the 100 and fifth in the 200.
House posted a career-best time in the 100 butterfly (54.10) this season, moving up to seventh place at Purdue. She's also fourth in the 100 backstroke (54.06) and eighth in the 200 back (1:59.30).
Each Big Ten institution developed its own on-campus selection process when awarding the scholarship. Student-athletes must have maintained at least a 3.2 GPA, demonstrated leadership qualities, served as an excellent role model and intended to continue their academic work beyond their bachelor's degree at a graduate degree program.
The scholarship will be used to pay expenses of the student's postgraduate education to include such related activities as research and teaching, as well as other expenses such as tuition, fees, room and board, required course-related supplies and books.