CHICAGO – UIC senior track & field athlete Luke Malone was chosen to receive a $10,000 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, the NCAA announced this week. Malone is believed to be the first UIC student to earn this prestigious award, which is given annually to 126 deserving student-athletes (42 per season) from across all three NCAA divisions nationwide who are in their final year of athletics competition.
 
A native of Plain City, Ohio, Malone has been a captain for the UIC track & field and cross country teams this season while turning in the best performances of his athletic career during his final year with the Flames. In cross country, he finished 24^th at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships in a personal-best 8k time of 24.11.3 before logging another PR for 10k at the NCAA Midwest Regional (32:37.4).
 
During the 2025 indoor season, Malone posted career bests at three distances (mile, 3,000 and 5,000), placing third in the mile at the Aurora Grand Prix (4:17.70), and in the top 12 in both of the other events at the 2025 MVC Indoor Championships — 10^th in the 5,000 (14:38.57) and 12^th in the 3,000 (8:23.85). In the current outdoor campaign, he turned in a personal-best 1,500-meter time of 3:57.57 at the Normal Invite to finish ninth, and helped the Flames' 4 x 1,600-meter relay to a fifth-place showing at the Drake Relays (17:05.41).
 
Off the track, Malone graduated from UIC last week with his degree in industrial design and business, having made the Dean's List each semester since he arrived on campus in 2020 and garnering the UIC Chancellor's Student Service Award this past spring. He also served as president of UIC's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) for the 2024-25 academic year, represented the University on the MVC SAAC for the past three years (2023-25), and was a three-time recipient of UIC Athletics' "Fire Up Award", which goes to a student-athlete who tireless supports his/her fellow Flames while building a strong and inclusive community and sense of unity among the Flames Family. Furthermore, Malone earned the MVC State Farm Good Neighbor Award twice (fall 2022 and spring 2025), attended the 2024 NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum (participating in that event's Service Project) and helped to organize and execute the UIC Athletics Canned Food Drive Competition.
 
This fall, Malone will enroll at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, to begin his postgraduate studies. He will also serve as a graduate assistant for the Comets' track & field program, getting a head start on a potential coaching career following his academic pursuits.
 
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