SPARTANBURG, S.C.- Elon senior men's basketball player Chris Chalko (South Bend, Ind./Marian) was one of seven student-athletes to earn one of the Southern Conference's post-graduate scholarships. Chalko was awarded the Dave Hart Graduate Scholarhips, awarded annually to a deserving male student-athlete who is interested in continuing his education in graduate school. The scholarship, worth 2,000 dollars is named after Dave Hart, who served as Southern Conference Commissioner from 1987-1991.Chalko, the team's two-time MVP, not only excelled on the basketball court during his career, but also in the classroom and in extracirricular activities. A member of the Chi Alpha Sigma (National College Athlete Honor society), Chalko is involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Catholic Community at Elon and has worked as a volunteer at the Fish and Loaves, MarMain Pharmacy and Memorial Hospital. He has participated in the annual Run for Respect and was a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) at Elon.
Chalko is currently enrolled in the Doctorate of Physical Therapy graduate program at Elon and maintains a 4.0 GPA. He is the first Elon student-athlete to participate in intercollegiate athletics as a full-time doctorate student. Chalko completed his undergraduate work in December with a 3.69 GPA in exercise/sport science. A member of the Dean’s List throughout his time at Elon, Chalko has been named to the President’s List and Athletic Director’s Honor Roll each year. He was named First-Team Academic All-District III by ESPN The Magazinein 2006 and 2007 while being named ESPN The Magazine Third-Team Academic All-America in 2007.
A 6-8 forward, Chalko averaged 10.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest. He led the team with 61 three-point field goals and finished his career sitting in third all-time at Elon with 199 three-pointers made. Against Chattanooga on Feb. 19, Chalko became Elon’s 31st 1,000-point scorer and ended his career with 1,034 points to be Elon's 29th all-time leading scorer.
This is the third post-graduate scholarship for an Elon student-athlete. John Tumbleston, a 2006 Elon graduate, earned the Dave Hart Sholarship last year while 2005 Elon grad Pramote Malasitt was awarded the TIAA-CREF Graduate Scholar in 2005.
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