ROCK ISLAND, ILL. – 2019 Augustana graduates Brandon Wilkerson (Tri-Point HS, Stelle, Ill.) and Mike Powers (Benet Academy, Westmont, Ill.) learned on July 15 that they're recipients of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. They became the 40th and 41st Vikings since 1968 to be honored. The $10,000 grant is awarded by the NCAA to "student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition." Wilkerson competed in cross country and track and field and Powers played baseball for Augustana.
 
The postgraduate scholarship is the latest in a string of accolades garnered by Wilkerson. After earning Academic All-District honors, he was named a 2018-19 Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and Google Cloud. He was Augustana's male Jack Swartz Award winner in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin this spring as well.
 
Wilkerson graduated on May 19 with a 3.82 cumulative grade point average while majoring in mathematics and secondary education. In cross country, Wilkerson placed 10th in the CCIW as both a junior and a senior.
 
Wilkerson finished his athletic career in track and field with the Vikings in the spring by placing seventh in the 3000 steeplechase at the NCAA Division III National Outdoor Championships at the end of May in Geneva, Ohio. He recorded a time of 9:12.72 and was an All-American for the second time in his career; following his sixth place national finish in the same event as a junior in 2018. Wilkerson's personal best time of 9:06.47 ranks sixth in school history. Wilkerson also won his second CCIW steeplechase title this year and placed fourth in the 5000.
 
He was the team's Most Valuable Performer in cross country in the fall of 2018 and he served as team captain in both cross country and track & field.

In addition to the postgraduate scholarship, Powers was the male recipient of the Knut Erickson Award in 2019. As a junior in 2018, he was named to the Academic All-America team by CoSIDA and Google Cloud and was a four time academic all-conference honoree.
 
Powers finished his academic career at Augustana with a 3.93 cumulative GPA and majors in accounting and business management.
 
He was a first team all-conference and second team all-region pitcher his junior season, tied for the team-lead in wins with a 7-3 record and a 2.22 earned run average in 81 innings. Powers is tied for eighth in school history with 160 career strikeouts, tied for 13th all-time with 202 2/3 innings pitched and tied for 18th in Viking history in both wins (18) and career starts (27). He was named Augustana's 2018 Most Outstanding Pitcher. Powers was a team captain during his senior season in 2019.
 
Wilkerson will begin teaching mathematics and coaching cross country and track and field at Orion High School in Orion, Ill. in the fall. Powers will be attending The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio to pursue his masters in accounting.


Written by Student Assistant Ty Taylor