Colorado University Athletics
CU Athletics Honors Its Academic Best
April 19, 2011 | General, Herbst Academic Center
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| Katie Hartman | Luke Symons |
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| Levi Knutson | Rosie Steinhaus |
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| Nikki Look | Katie Stege |
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| Emily Hanenburg | Kelly Menachof |
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| Jamie Befort | Ashley Babcock |
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 for the first time to two recipients, Johnny Widmer (golf) and Brittany Spears (basketball), as it is given to athletes who overcome personal, academic or emotional difficulties to succeed both academically and athletically, Widmer struggled early on his academic career when his mother became ill with cancer, and he was torn between staying in school or returning to be with his family in the Cayman Islands. But he followed his mother's wishes and returned to CU for his sophomore year and responded with near perfect grades by the end of the spring semester. Spears suffered numerous personal losses growing up in the Los Angeles area and used basketball as an escape, developing both resolve and strength that led to many amazing accomplishments, including leaving CU as the school's all-time leading scorer.
Two Big 12 Conference Community Outreach Awards, for strong commitment to service within the community, were presented to Katie Hartman (skiing) and Luke Symons (golf). 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 Levi Knutson (basketball) and Rosie Steinhaus (volleyball).
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:
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Nikki Look, Soph., Cross Country & Track (4.000 GPA, Applied Mathematics)
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Katie Stege, Jr., Skiing (3.933 GPA, Architecture)
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Emily Hanenburg, Sr., Cross Country & Track (3.903, Studio Arts & Spanish)
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Levi Knutson, Sr., Basketball (3.921 GPA, Business-Finance)
Five were the recipients of the inaugural Dr. Gerald Lage Award, presented to student-athletes in the Big 12 Conference who own grade point averages of 3.80 or higher with a minimum of 100 hours of earned credit. Hannenburg and Knutson were recognized once again and were joined by Kelly Menachof (Soccer, 4.000, Integrative Physiology), Jamie Befort (Women's Golf, 3.900, Integrative Physiology & Business) and Ashley Babcock (Skiing, 3.806 GPA, Geography & Environmental Studies),
Academic team winners for grade point average were the women's cross country team for the fifth straight year for a sport with its championship in the fall semester (3.342) and the women's tennis team for the first time for those who compete in the spring semester (3.233). The netters also won a fierce competition over the men's and women's golf teams for the most improved honor for a team, as its aggregate GPA rose .161 over the last two semesters.
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| Women's Cross Country, Fall Team Champions | Women's Tennis, Spring Team Champions |
In 2010, there were 17 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 223 members since 1994. Those honored included Babcock, Befort, Hanenburg, Knutson, Look and Menachof, with that group joined by Erin Bricker (soccer), Kirsten Cooper, Eric Davis, Andreas Haug and Carolina Nordh (skiing), Monica Milewski (tennis), Diana George, Stewart Shoemaker and Rachel Viger (cross country & track) and Holly Odneal and Jessica Pixler (track & field).
Out of 336 student-athletes, 143 attained a 3.0 grade point either cumulatively or for the spring and/or fall semesters through 2010, 61 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.
Rodney Stewart, a senior-to-be center on the football team, and Abbie Probert, a senior on the tennis team, won the Most Improved Student-Athlete Awards (one is presented to an underclassman, the other to a graduating 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 Andy Wacker (junior, cross country and track), Shayelyn Marshall (sophomore, soccer) and Lindsay Hubbard (freshman, track & field),
The Student Support Services Academic Award was presented to Amber Rose, who has worked as a subject tutor in the Herbst Academic Center for the last two years. She will earn her undergraduate degree in Sociology this May. This award is presented to a student worker who maintains a 3.0 grade point while demonstrating strong commitment and leadership to CU athletics.
Closing comments were made by Spears, as she was selected to deliver comments on behalf of all the graduating seniors. While giving thanks to all the support personnel in athletics, she reminded all of the younger peers to take advantage of everything that is available to them as a student-athlete.
She opened her remarks with the Chinese proverb, "Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
