Student-athletes honored for academic success
The Scholar Athlete awards banquet honored 175 student athletes for their work in the classroom last night, presented by the Panther Club.
The Merit Award was given to 68 student athletes from a variety of sports. The Merit Award is given to those who hold a GPA of 3.00 to 3.49. The Eastern Award, given to 48 student athletes, was for those with a GPA of 3.50 to 3.74. The University Award for maintaing a GPA of 3.75 to 4.00 was given out to 41 students.
The Presidential Award was given to 13 seniors graduating with a cumulative GPA of 3.75 and above. The 13 students earning the award was the highest number of students to ever receive the award.
Senior Jimmy Potempa, a member of the football team, was one of the Presidential Award winners. Potempa said the award was a result of the hard work he’s put in over the years.
“It means a lot,” Potempa said. “It’s a lot of hard work, you know, with football and school. I took 18 credits last semester, so it’s like all of my work paying off.”
Awards were also given to each men’s and women’s team with the highest average GPA. The men’s golf team won with an average GPA of 3.49, while the women’s cross country team had the highest women’s team GPA and highest average GPA of all teams with 3.57.
Head cross country coach Erin Howarth said putting academics first was very important for the team.
“We just encourage them to make sure they were going to class, and if it ever conflicts with a practice or if they’re studying for a test, just let me know,” Howarth said.
Howarth said she stresses being a student first to the team, since that is what they are in school for.
Other awards given out were the Lair Fund Award, given to football player Keithan Hendrick, swimmer Chancour Koop and softball player Amber May. Cross country and track runner Megan Gingerich was named OVC Scholar Athlete Award, which is the highest individual honor one can receive in the Ohio Valley Conference. Gingerich had a cumulative GPA of 3.88. Eastern student-athletes also received a total of 28 OVC Medals of Honor. The 28 awards were the most ever received by the university.
Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7944
