July 3, 2003
SAN DIEGO - The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has announced that San Diego State women's tennis player Katja Karrento has been awarded a postgraduate scholarship.
Karrento is one of 29 female student-athletes from across the country to earn the award. The winners are chosen from the sports of golf, lacrosse, rowing, softball, tennis, track and field, and water polo.
To be eligible for a postgraduate scholarship, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade-point average in excess of 3.2 and must have performed with distinction as a member of a varsity sports team. Seven regional committees screen the nominees with the winners advancing to the national committee for final selection.
Karrento, while pursuing a degree in cellular and molecular biology, was a member of San Diego State's Mountain West Conference championship tennis team. She was 16-14 over the past spring. A native of Oland, Finland, Karrento plans to attend medical school.
She is a multiple winner of San Diego State's Malik Award, presented to student-athletes with perfect 4.0 grade-point averages.
"She is everything you could ever want in a student-athlete," said San Diego State head coach Peter Mattera. "She played on three NCAA Tournament teams, was nearly perfect in the classroom and a model citizen."
Karrento is the second women's tennis player to be awarded an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, joining Lisa Alipaz, who earned the honor in 1995.