May 5, 2009

Sixteen Baylor University student-athletes and two of its athletic teams were honored for academic excellence and community service during the annual Student-Athlete banquet Monday evening in the Ferrell Center.

"The Student Athlete Academic Banquet is one of my favorite events of the year," said Baylor Director of Athletics Ian McCaw. "It is one of the rare opportunities to recognize and celebrate the incredible academic accomplishments and community service involvement of our student-athletes. I am particularly proud of the fact that this fall was Baylor Athletics' best academic semester on record, and our community service involvement and mission trip participation has dramatically increased."

Each year, the University recognizes the student-athlete from each team that records the highest grade-point average. McCaw handed out academic achievement awards to the following Baylor student-athletes:

Josh Lomers--Men's Basketball

Whitney Zachariason--Women's Basketball

Caitlyn Trice--Volleyball

Joe Pawelek--Football

Bill Allcorn--Men's Golf

Morgan Chambers--Women's Golf

Dominik Mueller--Men's Tennis

Taylor Ormond--Women's Tennis

Lucy Quintana--Soccer

Ashley Korol--Women's Track & Field

Leigh Ann Ganzar--Women's Cross Country

Heather Levihn--Equestrian

James Gilreath--Men's Track & Field

Joseph Hawkins--Men's Cross Country

In addition, special awards were presented to the male and female student-athletes with the highest grade-point average overall. For the second consecutive year, softball's Tiffany Wesley posted the highest GPA of any Baylor female student-athlete, while baseball's Chris Slater had the top GPA among BU's male student-athletes.

The Big 12 Conference Senior Award, which recognizes both a male and female senior athlete who has excelled in the classroom, on the field and in the community, was awarded to football's Jason Smith and softball's Brette Reagan.

The President's Cup, which is awarded to the team that carries the highest cumulative grade-point average, was presented from Baylor's Interim President, Dr. David Garland, to the women's cross country team. The Baylor women's cross country team, which has advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last six years, has a GPA of 3.46.

The Provost Award, which is given to teams for academic accomplishment, was given to Baylor's baseball, men's cross country, women's cross country, soccer, men's tennis and men's track teams. This new award recognized teams that had set their highest cumulative grade point average in team history.

The NCAA Champs/Life Skills program is designed to encourage academic excellence and community outreach for student-athletes across the country. Student-athletes from all sports participate in a variety of community outreach programs throughout the academic year. Coach Steve Smith's baseball team was the winner of the 2008-09 Champs Cup for community service. It marked the first time the baseball team had been recognized for its work in the community.

During the past year, members of the Baylor baseball team spent three days in support of hurricane relief efforts in Texas City, assisted with the Food for Families canned food drive program, participated in the One Book One Waco reading program and Santa's Workshop. Two team members also went on a mission trip to Mexico during winter break.

"I want to thank all of our student-athletes, coaches, academic support staff, tutors and faculty that help in the education process," said Baylor's Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Services Bart Byrd. "This is truly a team effort and our student-athletes continue to excel and set extremely high standards. Our student-athletes take extreme pride in the tradition of excelling in the classroom as well as their playing venues. 2008-09 has been another exceptional year for our student-athletes in the classroom, and we look forward to continuing our success next year."

Each year all student-athletes are asked to vote for the Baylor professor they believed had the greatest impact on their academic career. Sixteen individuals received Outstanding Professor Awards during Monday's banquet: Randy Jacobs (sociology), Paul LaBounty (HHPRE), John Cunningham (communication studies), Elizabeth Kelly (sociology), Steve Sadler (religion), Kevin Dougherty (sociology), Peaches Henry (English), Fred Hulme (information systems), Blair Browning (communication studies), Kathryn Mueller (sociology), Byron Weathersbee (HHPRE), Loeen Irons (HHPRE), Jess Kelly (forensic science), Marlene Reed (management), Patricia Bahnsen (mathematics), Larry Lehr (environmental sciences).