Former St. Thomas Aquinas runner Keeley Bateman has been awarded a NCAA Division II Degree Completion Award, providing the middle-distance standout financial assistance to complete her baccalaureate degree in elementary education.  

In order to be a candidate for the award, students must have exhausted their athletics eligibility and have once received athletics financial aid. The applicant must be within 32 semester hours of completion of his or her first undergraduate degree at the completion of the spring term, and carry greater than a 2.50 cumulative grade-point average.

Bateman, who completed her fourth year of competition this past spring for the Lady Spartans, will be student teaching this fall to complete her Elementary Education: K-6 degree from St. Thomas Aquinas College.

The senior has had a stellar cross country career at STAC.  In her senior year she was the top Lady Spatan finisher in everey race.  She is a four time recipient of the USTFCCCA All-Academic Award along with many others.   In Bateman's four years at STAC she has racked up awards including Cross Country, Indoor Track & Outdoor Track All-Conference, All-Region and All-Academic awards as well as Cross Country Rookie of the Year.  She holds the Spartan 5K record of 18:45 as well as the 6K record of 23:28. 

Bateman carries a 3.57 grade point average into this coming academic year.

In all, NCAA Division II awarded 81 former student-athletes with a Degree Completion Scholarship.  To date, nearly $4 million has been given to approximately 1,000 deserving student-athletics since the program started in 2001. Of those student-athletes who have received the award since its inception, 94 percent have earned their undergraduate degree using this program.