Finan will receive a $4,000 scholarship, which may be applied to graduate or
professional studies. The Conference also announced the male winners of the 2011-12 American Eagle Outfitters BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete Scholarships. Each institutional winner receives $2,000 toward graduate studies. Finan is Cincinnati’s first BIG EAST Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year selection.
Finan earned all-America status in both cross country and track & field during his career after he finished 10th in the 5,000-meter run at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships and was 25th at the 2011 NCAA Cross Country Championships. He was the 2011 BIG EAST cross country champion and was the runner-up at the 2011 NCAA Great Lakes Regional after winning that event in 2010 and won a BIG EAST title in the 5,000 at last year’s outdoor track & field championship.
Finan holds University of Cincinnati records in the indoor 3,000 and 5,000 events and is the outdoor record-holder in the 5,000 and 10,000. He finished as Cincinnati’s top cross country finisher in every race since the start of the 2009 season.
Finan, who holds a 3.785 grade-point average in Cincinnati’s master of business administration program, earned an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering with a 3.897 GPA. He was the recipient of Cincinnati’s Legion of Excellence Award, as the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average on his team and was admitted to the College of Engineering’s Accend program, a joint undergraduate and graduate program for the most academically qualified engineering majors.
Finan was the student president of Cincinnati’s Athletes in Action program and served as vice-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He is a member of the Sigma Sigma honorary fraternity and has been active with a number of community service efforts.
