Placek Earns Prominent NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
June 15, 2026 | Women's Track & Field, Men's Track & Field
NEWS
NCAA Release
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini track and field athlete Tadeas Placek received a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship the NCAA announced. Placek graduated from Illinois with a degree in Recreation, Sport, and Tourism.
During his time competing in the Orange and Blue Placek was part of the 2023 Big Ten Indoor Champion 4x400m relay team that shattered the school record with a time of 3:06.24. Later, at the 2023 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, he helped the 4x400m relay team take second on a time of 3:06.79. Additionally, he owns the program's second-fastest 600m time of 1:16.93 which he ran at the 2024 Big Ten Indoor Championships to place fourth.
The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage graduate education by rewarding the Association's most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA championship and/or emerging sports. It provides a $10,000 one-time award given to student-athletes who have excelled academically and athletically, and who plan to pursue graduate school. Up to 126 scholarships are awarded each year—split evenly between men and women—across the fall, winter and spring sport seasons.
All former student-athletes who earned an undergraduate degree from an NCAA member school are eligible to be nominated by that school for an NCAA graduate degree scholarship, regardless of when they received their undergraduate degree.
