CU PRESS RELEASE
BOULDER — A record 26 student-athletes with perfect 4.00 grade point averages last year and a host of others were honored for a variety of outstanding academic accomplishments Tuesday morning at the school’s 26th Annual Student-Athlete Academic Recognition Banquet.
Another full house attended the event in the Touchdown Club room in the Dal Ward Athletic Center, as over 300 people celebrated the outstanding academic accomplishments of nearly four dozen individuals and several teams.
There were two recipients of the Clancy A. Herbst, Jr., Student-Athlete Achievement Award, junior Nancy Best (soccer) and freshman Evan Battey (basketball), as the award is given to athletes who overcome personal, academic and/or emotional challenges difficulties to succeed both academically and athletically.
Best suffered a severe concussion in spring 2015 that had long-lasting effects on her academic success. She struggled academically for a year while dealing with post-concussions issues such as headaches, anxiety and sleeplessness, and then we she returned to the field, she suffered torn knee ligaments for the third time. She has since rallied to return her GPA well over 3.0 with three straight semesters of 3.3or higher.
Battey was ruled ineligible by the NCAA due to a rare technicality, but it didn’t let it bother him in the classroom, pulling a 3.383 GPA in his first semester at CU last fall. Between semesters, while playing a pick-up game with friends at home, he suffered a stroke, circumstance that for a 19 year old defies logic. He is recovering from the effects of the stroke and with his confidence and courage he is motivated to succeed.
Four students were presented with the Morgan Family Buff Club 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 (note three of have double majors):
ØCaleb Penner,Soph., Track & Field (3.967 GPA, Engineering Physics and Applied Mathematics)
ØBri Schwartz, Jr., Cross Country & Track (3.951 GPA, Journalism and Strategic Communications)
ØPetter Reistad, Sr., Skiing (3.956 GPA, Business-Finance)
ØMichaela Wenning, Sr., Track & Field (3.977 GPA, Chemical & Biological Engineering and Biochemistry)
Wenning, who in addition is earning a minor in three additional areas of study, also earned the honor her sophomore and junior years, while Schwartz claimed it as a sophomore.
Academic team winners for grade point average were the women’s cross country team for the fifth straight year (and the 14th time in 26 years) for a sport with its championship in the fall semester (3.368) and the women’s ski team, also the fifth time in a row (and 13th time overall) for those who compete in the spring semester (3.482). The men’s golf team was honored for the most improved honor for a team, as its cumulative GPA rose an impressive .283 (from 2.908 to 3.191) from the end of the 2016 fall semester to the end of the 2017 fall session.
The Leadership Through Service Award was presented to the football team. For the past few years, the entire team has participated in a service activity in the spring, splitting into their family groups and working with different organizations in the local community. Those last year included Community Food Share, Broomfield FISH (food pantry), Kohl Elementary (visiting with students to talk about literacy, the importance of reading and doing their best in school), There With Care (for families and children facing critical illness), Morning Star Senior Living, Read with the Buffs and the Frank Shorter Race for Kids Health. In addition, since 2013, the football team participates in an annual Be the Match Bone Marrow Registry Drive of which eight matches on campus have been made.
Out of 359 student-athletes, 198 attained a 3.0 grade point cumulatively through the Fall 2017 semester (196 recorded 3.0’s for the semester term), both all-time highs. There were 78 with aggregate GPA’s of 3.5 or better, with 86 earning that mark or better for the semester alone. The fall grade point average of all 359 worked to a 2.964, the second-best on record in over 20 years of compiling the information, with the overall cumulative average the best at 2.980; ten of 15 programs earned team GPA’s of 3.0 or higher. Those are impressive numbers, especially with CU’s curriculum being one of the toughest in Division I athletics, as evidenced by the roll call of majors being undertaken by many of the award winners.
In the 2017 calendar year, there were 26 student-athletes who studied to perfection, as in 4.00 grade point averages for at least one semester if not the full year; that bested by two the old record of 24 set in 2014 and again last year. All were thus inducted into CU’s 4.0 club; membership now stands at 369 since 1994. Those honored included Wenning for the fourth straight year, Schwartz for the third consecutive year and Reistad for the first time, with that trio joined by:
Wilson Belk (majoring in Integrated Physiology) and Jeremy Paul (Business Management), golf; Kaitlyn Benner (Chemical & Biological Engineering), Sage Hurta (Chemical & Biological Engineering and Applied Mathematics), David Merkel (International Affairs and Economics),Caleb Penner (Engineering Physics and Applied Mathematics), Ben Saarel (Engineering Physics), and Valerie Welch (Mechanical Engineering), all from track & field; Eliza Cahill (Business Management) and Holly Sutherland (Accounting), lacrosse; from football, Tim Coleman (Ethnic Studies),Afolabi Laguda (Economics) and Derek McCartney (Master’s program in Integrative Physiology); Hannah Cardenas (Integrated Physiology and Psychology), Courtney Fedor (Integrated Physiology), Elisabeth Geraghty (Integrated Physiology), Madison Hall (Management & Marketing),Kenzie Tillitt (Architecture) and Jalen Tompkins (Psychology), all from soccer; Nora Grieg Christensen (Architectural Engineering) and Tonje Trulsrud (Architectural Engineering) from skiing; Lauren Huggins (Ethnic Studies), basketball; and Kyra Wojcik (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology), tennis.
Saarel earned the honor for the third straight year, while Benner did so for the third time (second in a row); Hall, Hurta, McCartney, Merkel, Penner, Sutherland are 4.0 club members for a second straight year. Tillitt was recognized a second time along with two years ago.
Uryan Hudson, a sophomore on the football team majoring in Economics, Valerie Constien, a senior on the track and field squad and an Environmental Engineering major, and Jeannez Daniel, a psychology major and senior on the women’s tennis team were recognized as the recipients of the Most Improved Student-Athlete Awards. All overcame some struggles to greatly improve their cumulative grade point averages.
There were four recipients of the Byron R. White Leadership and Initiative Award, given to those student-athletes who have exhibited outstanding initiative and demonstrates a strong commitment to service to the CU and Boulder communities. Those winners were D’Shawn Schwartz(freshman, men’s basketball, Business major); Eriana Henderson (sophomore, track & field, Psychology/Sociology major); Naghede Abu (junior, volleyball, Finance/Accounting major); and Kiara McKibben (senior, volleyball; Business Management major). The four were selected among 18 nominees from across all sports.
The Student Support Services Academic Award was presented to Michael Lawson, a senior student equipment manager who worked three years with the women’s soccer program. The owner of a 3.961 grade point average as an Integrative Physiology major (and a Business minor), this award is presented to a student worker who maintains a 3.0 GPA while demonstrating strong commitment and leadership to CU athletics. Lawson became an integral part of the program with his dedication from the outset, doing everything that is normally asked of an equipment manager to running pregame mini-clinics for young fans.
Closing comments were made by senior skier Petter Reistad, who hails from Baerum, Norway. He centered his speech on the differences in attending college in his native land and the United States. In America, he learned that every great athlete has a great team behind them, with great coaching. “I was alone in Norway, but at CU, there is a team that helps you to succeed,” most notably in academics he went on to say.
In other academic news, the NFF Colorado Chapter also released its annual Academic All-Colorado Team on Tuesday, with three Buffaloes earning first-team honors (minimum 3.3 GPA): McCartney, defensive Lucas Cooper and offensive lineman Isaac Miller. Ten others earned honorable mention (3.0-3.29): running back Michael Adkins, tight end George Frazier, placekicker Chris Graham, offensive tackle Aaron Haigler, linebackerNate Landman, offensive guard Tim Lynott Jr., outside linebacker Michael Mathewes, wide receiver K.D. Nixon, tight end Jared Poplawski and placekicker Davis Price. McCartney was a finalist for the state’s collegiate scholar-athlete of the year, which was won by Colin Peter from Colorado Mines.
The chapter also named its 25th Anniversary Scholar-Athlete team, which included two former Buffaloes, Dusty Sprague, 2003-07 (Holyoke High School) and Nate Solder, 2006-10 (Buena Vista High School).
BOULDER — A record 26 student-athletes with perfect 4.00 grade point averages last year and a host of others were honored for a variety of outstanding academic accomplishments Tuesday morning at the school’s 26th Annual Student-Athlete Academic Recognition Banquet.
Another full house attended the event in the Touchdown Club room in the Dal Ward Athletic Center, as over 300 people celebrated the outstanding academic accomplishments of nearly four dozen individuals and several teams.
There were two recipients of the Clancy A. Herbst, Jr., Student-Athlete Achievement Award, junior Nancy Best (soccer) and freshman Evan Battey (basketball), as the award is given to athletes who overcome personal, academic and/or emotional challenges difficulties to succeed both academically and athletically.
Best suffered a severe concussion in spring 2015 that had long-lasting effects on her academic success. She struggled academically for a year while dealing with post-concussions issues such as headaches, anxiety and sleeplessness, and then we she returned to the field, she suffered torn knee ligaments for the third time. She has since rallied to return her GPA well over 3.0 with three straight semesters of 3.3or higher.
Battey was ruled ineligible by the NCAA due to a rare technicality, but it didn’t let it bother him in the classroom, pulling a 3.383 GPA in his first semester at CU last fall. Between semesters, while playing a pick-up game with friends at home, he suffered a stroke, circumstance that for a 19 year old defies logic. He is recovering from the effects of the stroke and with his confidence and courage he is motivated to succeed.
Four students were presented with the Morgan Family Buff Club 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 (note three of have double majors):
ØCaleb Penner,Soph., Track & Field (3.967 GPA, Engineering Physics and Applied Mathematics)
ØBri Schwartz, Jr., Cross Country & Track (3.951 GPA, Journalism and Strategic Communications)
ØPetter Reistad, Sr., Skiing (3.956 GPA, Business-Finance)
ØMichaela Wenning, Sr., Track & Field (3.977 GPA, Chemical & Biological Engineering and Biochemistry)
Wenning, who in addition is earning a minor in three additional areas of study, also earned the honor her sophomore and junior years, while Schwartz claimed it as a sophomore.
Academic team winners for grade point average were the women’s cross country team for the fifth straight year (and the 14th time in 26 years) for a sport with its championship in the fall semester (3.368) and the women’s ski team, also the fifth time in a row (and 13th time overall) for those who compete in the spring semester (3.482). The men’s golf team was honored for the most improved honor for a team, as its cumulative GPA rose an impressive .283 (from 2.908 to 3.191) from the end of the 2016 fall semester to the end of the 2017 fall session.
The Leadership Through Service Award was presented to the football team. For the past few years, the entire team has participated in a service activity in the spring, splitting into their family groups and working with different organizations in the local community. Those last year included Community Food Share, Broomfield FISH (food pantry), Kohl Elementary (visiting with students to talk about literacy, the importance of reading and doing their best in school), There With Care (for families and children facing critical illness), Morning Star Senior Living, Read with the Buffs and the Frank Shorter Race for Kids Health. In addition, since 2013, the football team participates in an annual Be the Match Bone Marrow Registry Drive of which eight matches on campus have been made.
Out of 359 student-athletes, 198 attained a 3.0 grade point cumulatively through the Fall 2017 semester (196 recorded 3.0’s for the semester term), both all-time highs. There were 78 with aggregate GPA’s of 3.5 or better, with 86 earning that mark or better for the semester alone. The fall grade point average of all 359 worked to a 2.964, the second-best on record in over 20 years of compiling the information, with the overall cumulative average the best at 2.980; ten of 15 programs earned team GPA’s of 3.0 or higher. Those are impressive numbers, especially with CU’s curriculum being one of the toughest in Division I athletics, as evidenced by the roll call of majors being undertaken by many of the award winners.
In the 2017 calendar year, there were 26 student-athletes who studied to perfection, as in 4.00 grade point averages for at least one semester if not the full year; that bested by two the old record of 24 set in 2014 and again last year. All were thus inducted into CU’s 4.0 club; membership now stands at 369 since 1994. Those honored included Wenning for the fourth straight year, Schwartz for the third consecutive year and Reistad for the first time, with that trio joined by:
Wilson Belk (majoring in Integrated Physiology) and Jeremy Paul (Business Management), golf; Kaitlyn Benner (Chemical & Biological Engineering), Sage Hurta (Chemical & Biological Engineering and Applied Mathematics), David Merkel (International Affairs and Economics),Caleb Penner (Engineering Physics and Applied Mathematics), Ben Saarel (Engineering Physics), and Valerie Welch (Mechanical Engineering), all from track & field; Eliza Cahill (Business Management) and Holly Sutherland (Accounting), lacrosse; from football, Tim Coleman (Ethnic Studies),Afolabi Laguda (Economics) and Derek McCartney (Master’s program in Integrative Physiology); Hannah Cardenas (Integrated Physiology and Psychology), Courtney Fedor (Integrated Physiology), Elisabeth Geraghty (Integrated Physiology), Madison Hall (Management & Marketing),Kenzie Tillitt (Architecture) and Jalen Tompkins (Psychology), all from soccer; Nora Grieg Christensen (Architectural Engineering) and Tonje Trulsrud (Architectural Engineering) from skiing; Lauren Huggins (Ethnic Studies), basketball; and Kyra Wojcik (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology), tennis.
Saarel earned the honor for the third straight year, while Benner did so for the third time (second in a row); Hall, Hurta, McCartney, Merkel, Penner, Sutherland are 4.0 club members for a second straight year. Tillitt was recognized a second time along with two years ago.
Uryan Hudson, a sophomore on the football team majoring in Economics, Valerie Constien, a senior on the track and field squad and an Environmental Engineering major, and Jeannez Daniel, a psychology major and senior on the women’s tennis team were recognized as the recipients of the Most Improved Student-Athlete Awards. All overcame some struggles to greatly improve their cumulative grade point averages.
There were four recipients of the Byron R. White Leadership and Initiative Award, given to those student-athletes who have exhibited outstanding initiative and demonstrates a strong commitment to service to the CU and Boulder communities. Those winners were D’Shawn Schwartz(freshman, men’s basketball, Business major); Eriana Henderson (sophomore, track & field, Psychology/Sociology major); Naghede Abu (junior, volleyball, Finance/Accounting major); and Kiara McKibben (senior, volleyball; Business Management major). The four were selected among 18 nominees from across all sports.
The Student Support Services Academic Award was presented to Michael Lawson, a senior student equipment manager who worked three years with the women’s soccer program. The owner of a 3.961 grade point average as an Integrative Physiology major (and a Business minor), this award is presented to a student worker who maintains a 3.0 GPA while demonstrating strong commitment and leadership to CU athletics. Lawson became an integral part of the program with his dedication from the outset, doing everything that is normally asked of an equipment manager to running pregame mini-clinics for young fans.
Closing comments were made by senior skier Petter Reistad, who hails from Baerum, Norway. He centered his speech on the differences in attending college in his native land and the United States. In America, he learned that every great athlete has a great team behind them, with great coaching. “I was alone in Norway, but at CU, there is a team that helps you to succeed,” most notably in academics he went on to say.
In other academic news, the NFF Colorado Chapter also released its annual Academic All-Colorado Team on Tuesday, with three Buffaloes earning first-team honors (minimum 3.3 GPA): McCartney, defensive Lucas Cooper and offensive lineman Isaac Miller. Ten others earned honorable mention (3.0-3.29): running back Michael Adkins, tight end George Frazier, placekicker Chris Graham, offensive tackle Aaron Haigler, linebackerNate Landman, offensive guard Tim Lynott Jr., outside linebacker Michael Mathewes, wide receiver K.D. Nixon, tight end Jared Poplawski and placekicker Davis Price. McCartney was a finalist for the state’s collegiate scholar-athlete of the year, which was won by Colin Peter from Colorado Mines.
The chapter also named its 25th Anniversary Scholar-Athlete team, which included two former Buffaloes, Dusty Sprague, 2003-07 (Holyoke High School) and Nate Solder, 2006-10 (Buena Vista High School).
