Feb. 10, 2016
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Four Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are among the 52 student-athletes honored as ACC Postgraduate Scholarship recipients, announced Wednesday by ACC Commissioner John Swofford. Of the 52 recipients, nine student-athletes who plan to pursue professional careers in their chosen sports were named honorary recipients.
Swimming’s Andrew Chetcuti, Nico van Duijn and Darelle Cowley are Georgia Tech’s Weaver-James-Corrigan Award recipients. Track & field’s Brandon Lasater is Tech’s honorary postgraduate recipient.
The student-athletes will be honored at the annual Cone Health ACC Postgraduate Luncheon hosted by the Nat Greene Kiwanis Club and presented by ESPN on April 13 at the Sheraton Four Seasons Hotel Imperial Ballroom in Greensboro.
The Weaver-James-Corrigan and Jim and Pat Thacker postgraduate scholarships are awarded to selected student-athletes who intend to pursue a graduate degree following completion of their undergraduate requirements. Each recipient will receive $5,000 toward his or her graduate education. Those honored have performed with distinction in both the classroom and their respective sport, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community.
In addition to those receiving scholarship funds, nine student-athletes will receive the Weaver-James-Corrigan Honorary Award. They include Duke women’s golfer Celine Boutier, Georgia Tech distance runner Brandon Lasater, Miami football player Paul Vogel, NC State wrestler Nick Gwiazdowski and football player Joe Thuney, Louisville women’s golfer Katie Mitchell, North Carolina basketball player Marcus Paige, Notre Dame men’s lacrosse player Matthew Landis and Virginia women’s soccer player Makenzy Doniak.
The Weaver-James-Corrigan Award is named in honor of the late Jim Weaver and Bob James, as well as Gene Corrigan, the first three ACC commissioners.
Andrew Chetcuti; Georgia Tech; Biology; Swimming; Dubai, UAE
Andrew Chetcuti, a native of Dubai, UAE, swims internationally for Malta and participated in the 2012 London Olympic Games. At Georgia Tech, Chetcuti competed in the 2013 NCAA Championships with the relay team of Nico van Duijn, Ryan Salmon and Andrew Kosic. He was an Academic All-American that same year, and was also named to the ACC All-Academic team. He is 10th all-time in the 100 free (44.69) at Georgia Tech. He was part of relay teams that were third-fastest in the 200 free relay and fourth-fastest in the 400 free relay in school history. Scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2016, Chetcuti carries a cumulative GPA of 3.40.
Nico van Duijn; Georgia Tech; Electrical Engineering; Basserdorf, Switzerland
Nico van Duijn, who graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in electrical engineering, participated in the relays at the 2013, 2014 and 2015 NCAA Championships as a sophomore, junior and senior. He also competed in the 50 free, 100 fly and 200 fly and NCAAs as a junior in 2014. In 2012, he set the Swiss National Record in the 100 fly (long course) with a time of 53.05 at the U.S. Open in Indianapolis. He was named an Academic All-American in 2013, and was also named to the ACC All-Academic Team in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Van Duijn finished his time at Tech in the fall of 2015 with a cumulative GPA of 3.97, receiving Highest Honors.
Darelle Cowley; Georgia Tech; Psychology; Swimming; Ajax, Ontario
Darelle Cowley, a native of Ajax, Ontario, is graduating in the spring of 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in psychology. She has a 3.34 cumulative GPA, and has been named to the Dean’s List five times while at Georgia Tech, and also received Faculty Honors in the fall of 2015. She is second all-time in the 100 and 200 breaststroke at Tech, and was also on the second-fasted 200 free relay team in school history. She also sits in Tech’s top 10 in the 100 free, 800 free relay and 400 medley relay.
Brandon Lasater; Georgia Tech; Electrical Engineering; Track & Cross Country; Perry, Ga.
Brandon Lasater, a native of Perry, Ga., has achieved great success at Georgia Tech, both in competition and in the classroom. He was an Honorable Mention All-American in the outdoor 800m in 2013, and was the 2013 ACC Indoor and 2014 ACC Outdoor champion in the 800m, as well. He ran the first sub-four-minute mile in Georgia Tech history at the Music City Distance Carnival on Vanderbilt’s campus in 2015. In cross country, Lasater earned All-South Region honors in 2013 and 2015. He made the Dean’s List and received Faculty Honors three times apiece during his time at Tech, and graduated with High Honors in fall 2015 with a GPA of 3.44. In 2014, he was named a COSIDA Capital One Academic All-American.
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