Prestigious NCAA scholarship given to Central’s Gray

Central College

PELLA—A standout quarterback for the Central College football team, Riley Gray (senior, West Des Moines, Iowa/Waukee HS) has been awarded an NCAA postgraduate scholarship for his academic and athletics excellence.

Gray, a physics major, carries a 3.67 grade point average. He will receive $7,500 for postgraduate study and is one of just 29 male scholarship recipients for the fall 2016 season.

Central has had 23 NCAA postgraduate scholarship winners since 1970, when former NFL star Vern Den Herder was honored. The Dutch football program has been represented in the elite program in consecutive years as 2016 graduate and former wide receiver Taylor Cox was a recipient last year.

There were 58 men’s and women’s fall sport recipients selected. The NCAA awards 174 postgraduate scholarships annually. To be eligible for selection, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or above, have performed with distinction in athletics, and behaved—both on and off the field—in a manner that brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution and intercollegiate athletics.

Gray earned four varsity letters during his Central football career, splitting time between quarterback and outside linebacker. The starter at quarterback much of his junior and senior seasons, Gray was the most accurate passer in the Iowa Conference in 2016 with a 64.5 completion percentage. He finished with 3,987 career passing yards and 957 on the ground. He also threw for 42 touchdowns and ran for 18.

In addition to serving as a co-captain in 2015 and 2016, he was chosen as the winner of the Mentink Award (leadership on and off the field) by his teammates following this past season.

Gray was joined by Luther College men’s cross country runner Isaac Jensen as representatives of the Iowa Conference,

Central’s NCAA postgraduate scholarship winners

1970 – Vern Den Herder, football

1973 – Dana Snoap, men’s basketball

1980 – Jeff Verhoef, men’s basketball

1982 – Cam Ratering, women’s cross country, track

1983 – Lisa Broek, women’s track

1986 – Scott Lindell, football

1988 – Rick Perry, football

1989 – Chris Hoffman, wrestling

1991 – Rich Kacmarynski, football

1995 – Emilie Hanson, women’s basketball

Rick Sanger, football

2001 – Roger Dortch, men’s golf

2002 – Tony Brownlee, men’s track and field

Jon Hietbrink, men’s golf

2004 – Raegan Schultz, women’s track and field

2005 – Jamie Stark, volleyball

2006 – Nick Cochrane, men’s tennis

Adam Duerfeldt, baseball

2007 – Ben Bollard, men’s track and field

Alicia Whisner, women’s track and field

2015 – Spencer Hammack, men’s track and field

Taylor Cox, football

2016 – Riley Gray, football