NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Atlantic 10 Conference announced Thursday the 14 winners of the A-10 Postgraduate Scholarship awards for 2019, with Duquesne's Kirsten Hillsley (Port Matilda, Pa. / State College) of the swimming and diving program earning the honor for the Dukes. The prestigious scholarship is earned by a graduating student-athlete from each of the league's 14 members.

Over the last six years, the A-10's Postgraduate Scholarship program has awarded $420,000 to 80 former student-athletes. Each of the 14 honorees receives $5,000 to contribute towards full-time enrollment in a postgraduate or professional program. Instituted to provide continuing education opportunities for graduating student-athletes, the program annually awards $70,000 in scholarship funding to former A-10 student-athletes. This marks the fifth straight year the Atlantic 10 has provided the scholarships to 14 individuals.
 
"I want to congratulate this exceptional group of Postgraduate Scholarship recipients," stated Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. "Each of these young women and men have demonstrated a talent for academics and leadership throughout their successful careers as student-athletes. We are proud to award them one of the Atlantic 10's most prestigious honors to assist with their postgraduate education."
 
The class is comprised of 12 female and two male student-athletes, representing seven different sports with an average GPA of 3.744. The process involves the league's athletic directors, senior woman administrators and faculty athletic representatives.

Hillsley helped Duquesne to back-to-back Atlantic 10 Women's Swimming and Diving championships in 2018 and '19, the program's first two conference titles in program history, serving as a team captain as a senior this past season. Hillsley and the Dukes tallied a school record for points at the conference championship meet in each of the last two seasons. She posted a 12th-place mark in the 200-yard breaststroke for Duquesne at the 2018 championship meet with a personal best time followed by a 13th-place showing in the event in 2019.

Hillsley owns top-ten times in program history in both the 100 and 200-yard breaststrokes.

She has recorded a 3.92 cumulative grade point average throughout her career with the Dukes as a member of Duquesne's Honors College.

In addition, Hillsley was named to the Dean's List as well as the A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll every semester throughout her career. She volunteer as a swim lesson instructor for children with disabilities over the last four years and also organizes the team's annual breast cancer awareness meet. Hillsley plans to continue her academic career in the physician assistant studies program here at Duquesne. 

This marks the second consecutive year in which Duquesne's A-10 postgraduate scholarship has been earned by a member of the swimming and diving team after Lexi Santer was honored last season.  

To be considered for the Postgraduate Scholarship, student-athletes must have performed with distinction both in the classroom and in their respective sports throughout their career, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community. The postgraduate program expanded to four recipients in 1997 and then grew to 10 in 2014.
 
The Postgraduate Scholarship Program is part of the conference's broad-based commitment to student-athlete opportunities and academics. The conference consistently ranks at the top amongst all Division I Conferences in both Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and the Academic Progress Rate (APR) data released by the NCAA.