CU Athletics honors its academic best
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 morning at the 21st Annual Student-Athlete Academic Recognition Banquet.
Over 300 people attended the event, held in the Byron White Club Lounge at CUs Folsom Field.泭
The Clancy A. Herbst, Jr., Student-Athlete Achievement Award was presented to two recipients, Malcolm Creer(football) and Brian Owens (track), as the award is given to athletes who overcome personal, academic or emotional difficulties to succeed both academically and athletically.
Creer, who has overcome a learning disability and is now looking to help others by majoring in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, was redshirting his true freshman year in 2011 when he was called upon to play due to injuries. 泭His first game was CUs eighth of the season, well into the second half of the year, and in the ninth game, he suffered a torn knee ligament that sidelined him for a year.
Owens, who throws the javelin, had elbow surgery prior to coming to CU, has since had a second and is looking at a third. 泭He also suffered heartbreak with the death of a younger brother in an accident, one he salutes in tribute every time before he makes a throw.
The highest award a graduating senior can receive from the Pac-12 Conference is the Tom Hansen Medal, named for the leagues longtime commissioner, and is based on the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership. 泭Each school selects a male and female recipient, and these were presented to Emma Coburn (cross country and track) and Sabatino Chen (mens basketball).
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:
- Thea Grosvold, Soph., Skiing (3.870 GPA, Business)
- Rachel Viger, Jr., Cross Country & Track (4.00 GPA, Chemical Engineering)
- Nikki Look,Sr., Cross Country & Track (4.00 GPA, Applied Mathematics)
- Ian Mallams, Sr., Skiing (3.799 GPA, Environmental Studies and Geography)
Look also received the honor as a sophomore and junior.
Academic team winners for grade point average were the womens soccer team for a sport with its championship in the fall semester (3.267) and the mens ski team for those who compete in the spring semester (an astounding 3.604). 泭The soccer team also won a fierce competition over the mens and womens golf teams for the most improved honor for a team, as its aggregate GPA rose .183 over the last two semesters, edging mens ski, volleyballand football.
In the 2012 calendar year, there were 15 student-athletes who studied to perfection, as in 4.00 grade point averages for at least one semester if not the full year, and thus were inducted into CUs 4.0 club; membership now stands at 252 members since 1994. 泭Those honored included Grosvold, Look, Mallams and Viger, with that quartet joined by:
Courtney Bouchet (majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Neuroscience in Psychology), Lindsy Mattson (Communication and Economics), Jessica McLaughlin (English) and Jessica Tebo(Masters in Curriculum and Instruction), all on the womens cross country and/or track team; 泭Andreas Haug (Finance),Katie Stege (Architecture), Michael Vigers and Claire Wise (both Chemical and Biological Engineering), all members of the ski team; 泭Chelsey Keoho (Integrative Physiology and Communication) and Elysse Richardson (Psychology), of the womens volleyball team; and Alex Dohm (French and Mechanical Engineering) of the soccer team.
Out of 306 student-athletes, 151 attained a 3.0 grade point either cumulatively or for the spring and/or fall semesters through 2012, 71 of whom owned 3.5 averages or better. 泭Those are impressive numbers when realized that CUs curriculum is one of the toughest in Division I athletics, as evidenced by the roll call of majors being undertaken by many of the award winners.
Jason Burstyn, a senior on the mens golf team, Ben Mills, a junior on the mens basketball squad and Arnaud Du Pasquier, a sophomore on CUs national championship ski team, were recognized as recipients of the Most Improved Student-Athlete Awards.
There were four recipients of the Buffalo Leadership and Initiative Awards, given to the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior student-athletes who have exhibited outstanding initiative and demonstrates a strong commitment to service to the CU and Boulder communities. 泭Those winners were Lauren Shaner (senior, soccer), Jessica Aschenbrenner (junior, volleyball), Kelsey Spencer (sophomore, volleyball) and Josh Scott (freshman, basketball),
The Student Support Services Academic Award was presented to Rita DiTommaso, who has worked as a student trainer for four years. 泭Owner of a 3.7 grade point, she will earn her undergraduate degree in Integrative Physiology this May. 泭This award is presented to a student worker who maintains a 3.0 GPA while demonstrating strong commitment and leadership to CU athletics.泭
Closing comments were made by Look, who has had seven consecutive semesters with a 4.0 grade point and was guaranteed a spot in CUs medical school her sophomore year. 泭She spoke about her past challenges in overcoming two knee surgeries and the path that brought her to CU, and how she earned an academic scholarship (Boettcher) and earned a spot on the track team. 泭It was centric to the theme she conveyed to the audience:
The challenges of academics and athletics lead us to succeed in both.
Images and story courtesy of CU Athletics.
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