Aug. 24, 1998

UCLA's Josh Keller (Laguna Niguel, Calif.), Josh Johnson (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) and Nada Kawar (Montrose, Calif.) were awarded NCAA postgraduate scholarships.

The NCAA annually awards 174 postgraduate scholarships (worth $5,000) to student-athletes who have excelled academically and athletically and are in their last year of intercollegiate athletics competition.

Keller, captain of the 1997 NCAA Championship men's soccer team, earned the first-ever NCAA postgraduate scholarship by a UCLA soccer player. In 1997, Keller earned all-tournament honors at the 1997 Final Four and was a second-team All-Far West selection. He was drafted in the first round of the Major League Soccer collegiate draft and currently plays for the Chicago Fire. Keller plans to pursue a master's degree in business administration.

Three-time track and field All-American Johnson is one of the top javelin throwers in the nation and recently represented the United States at the 1998 Goodwill Games. Johnson won the 1997 Pac-10 and 1998 Cal-Nevada javelin championships. He plans to study management and entreprenuership in graduate school. Johnson is the third men's track and field athlete from UCLA to earn a postgraduate scholarship.

Nineteen-ninety-six Olympian Kawar becomes UCLA women's track and field's second postgraduate scholarship recipient. Kawar was a five-time All-American and also earned first-team Academic All-American acclaim in 1998. The two-time Pac-10 shot put champion will attend medical school.

UCLA has now had a total of 48 NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipients.