Two Furman student-athletes are NCAA Postgraduate Scholars

Furman cross country/track athlete Allie Buchalski and football player Andy Schumpert have been awarded NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships.

Buchalski is the third member of the Paladin women’s cross country/track and field program to receive the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, valued at $7,500, while Schumpert becomes the 12th Paladin football player to be awarded grant.  Furman leads all Southern Conference schools with 22 NCAA Post-Graduate Scholars.

The most decorated athlete in the history of the Furman cross country/track and field program, Buchalski earned her sixth career All-American citation last fall after placing ninth at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships.  The Johns Creek, Ga., native was honored as the 2017 SoCon Cross Country Runner of the Year after becoming only the fourth woman in SoCon history to win three league individual titles and just the sixth runner to be named first team All-SoCon four times.  She holds Furman program records in the 3,000m and 5,000m indoors and in the 5,000m, 3,000m Steeplechase, and 4x800m relay outdoors.

A double major in business administration and studio art, she holds a 3.64 grade point average.  She is a member of the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team and garnered CoSIDA Academic All-America second team accolades.

Following graduation this spring, Buchalski intends to join a post-collegiate training group to train for the 2020 Olympics and continue her education by studying graphic arts in graduate school.

Schumpert, a consensus first team All-Southern Conference selection and two-time SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week selection in 2017, caught 32 passes for 652 yards and team leading nine touchdowns in helping Furman to an 8-5 record and second round appearance in the FCS playoffs.  A preseason No. 7 pick in a poll of SoCon head coaches, the Paladins started the year 0-3 but turned their campaign around by winning seven straight games en route to earning a playoff bid — the program’s first since 2013.

The 6-foot-5, 202-pound Schumpert ranked among the FCS leaders in yards per catch (20.4).  His nine touchdown catches represented the highest tally by a tight end and second highest overall season tally in Furman history.

The Brentwood, Tenn., product sports a 3.77 grade point average in accounting and was a CoSIDA District 4 Academic All-America selection.

The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage postgraduate education by rewarding the Association’s most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA championship and/or emerging sports. Athletics and academic achievements, as well as campus involvement, community service, volunteer activities and demonstrated leadership, are evaluated. In maintaining the highest broad-based standards in the selection process, the program aims to reward those individuals whose dedication and effort are reflective of those characteristics necessary to succeed and thrive through postgraduate study in an accredited graduate degree program.

Julie Paré, Furman Sports Information