WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (March 18, 2017)—Having established himself as one of the nation's elite gymnasts during his collegiate career, William & Mary senior Neal Courter has been selected as one of eight finalists for the 2017 College Gymnastics Association Nissen Emery Award. The honor is considered the Heisman Trophy of Gymnastics.
 
Joining Courter as finalists are Allan Bower (Oklahoma), Jake Martin (Ohio), Akash Modi (Stanford), Zach Liebler (Minnesota), Joey Peters (Illinois), Colin Van Wicklen (Oklahoma) and Timothy Wang (Air Force).
 
A video feature highlighting some of Courter's accomplishments is available above or by clicking here.
 
An NCAA All-American on vault, Courter currently owns school records on vault and floor while he ranks second all-time on high bar. Additionally, he placed fourth on vault at the 2013 P&G Gymnastics Championships and is a three-time USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Champion.
 
In addition to excelling in the gym, the Baton Rouge, La., native is a three-time first-team Academic All-American Scholar-Athlete and has earned multiple W&M Provost Awards.
 
Courter becomes the eighth Tribe men's gymnast to be selected as a finalist for the prestigious award, as the list includes David Williams (1992), Sabronzik Wright (1995), Scott McCall (1997), Jamie Northrup (2004), Ramon Jackson (2006), Derek Gygax (2010) and Landon Funiciello (2014).
 
This year's Nissen Emery Award will be announced at the CGA Awards Banquet, which will be hosted by Army, the site of the 2017 NCAA Championships.
 
The highest honor in collegiate gymnastics, the Nissen Emery Award has been presented annually since 1966 to an outstanding senior collegiate gymnast based on his achievement, sportsmanship and academic excellence.
 
The original Nissen Award was named in honor of George Nissen, a former NCAA champion, for his contributions to men's gymnastics. The honor was renamed the Nissen Emery Award in 1998 to honor Dr. Robert Emery, a Penn State graduate, who won the Nissen Award in 1969.