CU Athletics Honors Its Best
April 24, 2007 | Cross Country, Football, General, Men's Golf, Track and Field, Women's Basketball, Women's Golf, Soccer, Spirit
CU Athletics Honors Its Best
By David Plati, Associate AD/Sports Information
April 24, 2007
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BOULDER--Â Over three dozen University of Colorado student-athletes, including 15 with perfect 4.00 grade point averages last year, were honored for a variety of outstanding academic accomplishments Tuesday at the 15th Annual Student-Athlete Recognition Luncheon.
Over 200 people attended the event, held in the Byron White Club Lounge of the CU's east stadium addition.Â
The Clancy A. Herbst, Jr., Student-Athlete Achievement Award was presented to football senior Mell Holliday. Given to athletes who overcome personal, academic or emotional difficulties to succeed both academically and athletically, Holliday, a psychology major, finally found a home at CU after attending two other schools in hopes of playing Division I-A football, and all while he worked summers to support his five children.
Two Big 12 Conference Medal Awards, for those who have completed their eligibility with an outstanding record of athletics and scholarship, were presented to Brian Daniels (football) and Kristin Taylor (skiing). Daniels and Taylor both earned four letters in their respective sports and were team captains their senior seasons. The two Big 12 Conference Community Outreach Awards, for strong commitment to service within the community, were presented to a pair of senior throwers on the track team, James Begley and Cortney Hutmacher.
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Four students were presented with the Scholar-Athlete Award, as the recipients include a member of the sophomore and junior classes and a male and female from the senior class who have accumulated the highest cumulative grade point average in their respective class (and are awarded by academic year, not eligibility class). Â
Academic team winners for grade point average included the women's cross country team for a sport with its championship in the fall semester (3.081) and the women's ski team for those who contend in the spring semester (3.288). The men's track & field team won the most improved honor for a team, as its aggregate GPA rose .193 (to 2.921) over the last two semesters.
In 2006, 15 student-athletes studied to perfection, as in 4.00 grade point averages, and were inducted into CU's 4.0 club; membership now stands at 164 members since 1994. Those honored were Kenney, McFarland, Ryan, Ben Carpenter (football), Amberly Casey (track & field), Anna Chase (cross country & track), Kyle Griffith (football), Erik Heinonen (cross country), Jonas Kryzl (skiing),Samuel Napp (track & field), Charlotte Persson-Gulda (golf), Jana Rehemaa (skiing), Dani Rodriguez (cross country & track), Bret Smith (football) and Mary White (soccer).
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Out of 335 student-athletes, 191 attained a 3.0 grade point either cumulatively or for the spring and/or fall semesters through 2006. That is an impressive number when realized that CU's curriculum is one of the toughest in Division I athletics; several peer schools award grades and credit for things such as sport participation, but that is not the case at Colorado.Â
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Bianca Smith, a redshirt freshman guard on the women's basketball team and Allie True, a senior midfielder on the women's soccer team, won the Barb and Lane Earnest Most Improved Student-Athlete Awards (one presented to an underclassman, the other to a senior).Â
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There were three recipients of the Buffalo Leadership and Initiative Awards, given to the freshman, sophomore and junior student-athletes who have exhibited outstanding initiative and demonstrates a strong commitment to service to the CU and Boulder communities. Those winners were Patrick Grady (junior, golf), Jenny Barringer (sophomore, cross country & track), and Jess Quador (freshman, soccer).
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The Student Support Services Academic Award was presented to senior Allie Musso, who works in the sports information office. Musso, a communication major who will graduate next month, is just the 11th student (and third woman) to work for the SID office for four years as an undergrad in the department's history. She is the first female bestowed the title of "senior student assistant" in the office as well. This award is presented to a student worker who maintains a 3.0 grade point while demonstrating strong commitment and leadership to CU athletics.
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Closing comments were made by senior alpine skier Kristin Taylor, as she delivered a poignant speech in also passing along advice she received when she first arrived at CU about treasuring the time as a student and athlete and to have a great experience.
Players Mentioned
