GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Two Gators – Chase Ruskin and Trinity Thomas – are among the 42 receiving postgraduate scholarships the NCAA announced today. This is the third consecutive year at least one Gator received a NCAA post-graduate scholarship and brings UF’s total of recipients since 1969 to 62.
The NCAA’s postgraduate scholarship program awards up to 126 scholarships annually and are given to student athletes who excel academically and athletically. The $10,000 scholarships are awarded three times a year, corresponding with each sports season (fall, winter, and spring). During each sports season 21 scholarships are available to men and 21 scholarships are available to women for use in an accredited graduate program.
Both Ruskin and Thomas are Gator graduates. Ruskin received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering in May of 2023. Thomas is a triple UF grad. She graduated cum laude in April of 2022 with her bachelor’s degree in Applied Physiology & Kinesiology – Fitness Wellness and then added master’s in Health Education & Behavior (May 2023) and Entrepreneurship (May 2024). Both earned SEC Academic Honor Roll accolades every possible season.
Ruskin is competing this spring with Florida’s track & field team, running in the SEC Outdoor Championships 800 meters last weekend. He received a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship last spring as a nominee for the Southeastern Conference’s H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year<https://www.secsports.com/news/2023/04/sec-names-florida-nominees-for-mcwhorter-award> award. Ruskin is currently pursuing a master’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering. A frequent participant in Goodwill Gator community service events, Ruskin also was part of the UF Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has been a UF Teaching Assistant since August of 2022. Ruskin interned at the NASA Glenn Research Center in the summer of 2022.
Thomas earned the Honda Award as the nation’s top collegiate gymnast in her final two seasons (2022, 2023). The 2023 SEC Female Athlete of the Year<https://floridagators.com/news/2023/7/6/gymnastics-trinity-thomas-is-2023-southeastern-conference-female-athlete-of-the-year.aspx> shares the NCAA career 10.0 record (28). The 34-time All-American won the 2022 NCAA all-around, uneven bars and floor exercise titles and owns UF’s records for all-around (30) and event (142) wins. Also active in the community, Thomas served as president of Florida Athletics Black Student-Athlete Council in 2022-23. She begins studies toward a nursing degree at UF in 2025. This spring, Thomas was named to her fifth U.S. Senior National Team and competes Saturday evening at the U.S. Gymnastics Core Hydration Classic<https://usagymclassic.com/athletes/>.
