INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Kirby Hora, a 2018 Augustana biology graduate, has been awarded the 2019 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, an honor which is granted to student-athletes that excel both academically and athletically while also serving as leaders in the community.

Hora, who was also recently named the Google Cloud Academic All-America® of the Year for Division II Football, will receive a $10,000 scholarship to be used for postgraduate study. Kirby is currently deciding on medical school, with his top choices being South Dakota, Ohio State, and Harvard.

Hora is thrilled to earn the postgraduate scholarship and is thankful to Augustana University and the NCAA for selecting him.

"I am honored to represent Augustana University at the NCAA level. This scholarship will help tremendously with financing my future endeavors as a medical student." 

A Sioux Falls native, Hora becomes just the 38th student-athlete in Augustana's history to earn the postgraduate scholarship. Hora graduated with a 4.0 GPA and is also heavily involved on campus as the chair president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA).

On the field, the middle linebacker recently finished one of the best careers in Viking history. Hora Augustana. Hora ended his career with 410 career tackles, ranking 2nd all-time in Augustana program history. A four-time All-NSIC selection, Hora's career total of five forced fumbles sits tied for 1st in Augustana history. In 2015, Hora helped lead the Vikings to a share of the NSIC South division title.

About the postgraduate scholarships
The NCAA awards up to 126 postgraduate scholarships annually. The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are at least in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition. The one-time non-renewable scholarships of $10,000 are awarded three times a year corresponding to each sport season (fall, winter, and spring). Each sports season there are 21 scholarships available for men and 21 scholarships available for women for use in an accredited graduate program. All former student-athletes who earned an undergraduate degree from an NCAA member school are eligible to be nominated by that school for an NCAA graduate degree scholarship, regardless of when they received their undergraduate degree.

Augustana Postgraduate Scholarship Recipients

Baseball
1987 - Paul Limburg
1993 - Jason Lloyd

Men's Basketball
1975 - Neil Klutman
1975 - John Ritterbusch
1992 - Jason Garrow

Women's Basketball
1991 - Bridget Lindquist
1994 - Heidi Morlock

Men's Cross Country
1988 - Allan Serverude
1989 - Doug Anderson
2010 - Matt Braithwaite

Football
1972 - Mike Olson
1975 - Dave Zelinksy
1977 - Jim Clemens
1978 - DeeJay Donlin
1978 - Roger Goebel
1991 - Scott Boyens
1997 - Mitch Pruett
2010 - Dan Schoen
2017 - Matt Wagner
2018 - Kirby Hora

Softball
1999 - Becky Mancuso

Soccer
2016 - Meg Thacker

Men's Track & Field
1979 - Vance Butler
2018 - Zach Tuschen

Women's Golf
2017 - Jordan Bormann

Women's Track & Field
2007 - Jennifer Buyske
2016 - Charissa Etrheim

Wrestling
1978 - Scott Ecklund
1980 - Brian Parlet
1994 - Brent Loken
1999 - Brent Henriksen
2005 - Aaron Graumann
2007 - Cody Henricksen
2011 - Jay Sherer
2012 - Cody Lensing
2012 - Marcus Edgington