CU Athletics Honors Its Academic Best

Marcus Burton accepts the Clancy A. Herbst, Jr., Student-Athlete Achievement Award.

BOULDER - Over three dozen University of Colorado student-athletes, including 19 with perfect 4.00 grade point averages last year, were honored for a variety of outstanding academic accomplishments Tuesday at the 18th Annual Student-Athlete Recognition Luncheon.

Over 250 people attended the event, held in the Byron White Club Lounge at CU's Folsom Field.

The Clancy A. Herbst, Jr., Student-Athlete Achievement Award was presented to football senior Marcus Burton. Given to athletes who overcome personal, academic or emotional difficulties to succeed both academically and athletically, Burton, an Ethnic Studies major, initially had trouble adjusting to college academics and was ineligible after his sophomore season, but rallied to the point where he will graduate next week. And along the way, he got married and became the father of two.

Two Big 12 Conference Community Outreach Awards, for strong commitment to service within the community, were presented to Justin Drescher (football) and Chynna McCall (indoor and outdoor track). The two Big 12 Conference Medal Awards, for those who have completed their eligibility with an outstanding record of athletics and scholarship, were earned by Matt Gelso (skiing) and Nikki Marshall (soccer). Gelso has been a member of the Dean's List all seven semesters at CU, and was the NCAA champion in the classical competition this past winter and a two-time, first-team All-American. Marshall completed her graduation requirements this spring via correspondence after being drafted in the first round by Washington of the Women's Pro Soccer League; she practically rewrote the CU record book and is the school's all-time leading scorer.

Four students were presented with the Scholar-Athlete Award, as the recipients include a member of the sophomore and junior classes and male and female members 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). The winners were:


Kelly Menachof Sr., Soccer 4.000 GPA Integrated Physiology	Matt Gelso Sr., Skiing 3.790 GPA Business-Finance	Levi Knutson Jr., Basketball 3.929 GPA Business	Trey Eckloff Soph., Basketball 3.943 GPA Business

Academic team winners for grade point average were the women's cross country team for the fourth straight year for a sport with its championship in the fall semester (3.407) and the women's ski team for the fifth straight year for those who contend in the spring semester (3.306). The men's ski team won a fierce competition for the most improved honor for a team, as its aggregate GPA rose .229 to 3.338 over the last two semesters.

In 2009, a record 19 student-athletes studied to perfection, as in 4.00 grade point averages for at least one semester if not the full year, and were inducted into CU's 4.0 club; membership now stands at 206 members since 1994. Those honored were Eckloff, Knutson, Menachof, Patrick Bachman, Jenny Barringer, Rachel Gioscia, Kelly King, Nicole Look, Jhenya Nahreini, Holly Odneal and Jerome Perkins (cross country and/or track); Jamie Befort (golf), R.J. Brown and Devin Shanahan (football), and Eric Davis, Lesley LeMasurier, Lenka Palanova, Katherine Stege and Lucie Zikova (skiing).

Out of 363 student-athletes, 172 attained a 3.0 grade point either cumulatively or for the spring and/or fall semesters through 2009, 78 of whom owned 3.5 averages or better. 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 and weight-training, but that is not the case at Colorado.

Keenan Stevens, a senior-to-be center on the football team, and Tony Cesolini, a senior on the ski team, won the Most Improved Student-Athlete Awards (one is presented to an underclassman, the other to a senior).

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 Katie Hartman (junior, skiing), Kevin Kring (sophomore, golf) and Lauren Shaner (freshman, soccer),

The Student Support Services Academic Award was presented to Alisha Cash, who has worked in CU's athletic business as a student assistant for the last two years. She earned her undergraduate degree in Business (Accounting) and wil earn her master's in the same field next week. This award is presented to a student worker who maintains a 3.0 grade point while demonstrating strong commitment and leadership to CU athletics.

Dwight Thorne II

Closing comments were made by senior basketball player Dwight Thorne II, as he was selected to deliver comments on behalf of all the graduating seniors. While giving thanks to all the support personnel in athletics, he also acknowledged the support the athletes receive from their peers, especially during tough times which almost all endure at some point in the careers. He noted that, "While some did leave, some also found out that the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence."

He closed with a statement he first heard when he was 13, and left it as a message to the underclassmen, or the "Young Buffs" as Thorne called them:

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift. That's why they call it the present."

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