CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Ohio Valley Conference released its academic awards for the 2010-11 school year Tuesday. A total of 131 Southeast Missouri student-athletes and OVC-best five teams were honored.
Of those 131 student-athletes, 19 were presented with the OVC Medal of Honor, reserved for those who achieve the highest grade point average in a Conference-sponsored sport.
Southeast also racked up a league-high five Team Academic Achievement Awards which are presented annually in each Conference-sponsored sport to the member institution's team with the greatest percentage of its eligible student-athletes who achieved a 3.25 grade point average or higher. The Redhawk baseball, women's basketball, men's cross country, football and men's track & field teams earned that honor. This year marked the sixth time in seven years that the men's cross country team has won the award.
Kody Campbell (baseball), Brennan Malham (baseball), Brent Collins (men's cross country), Dustin Davis (men's cross country/track & field), Joel Krause (men's cross country/track & field), Brent Collins (men's cross country/track & field), Mark Zisser (men's cross country/track & field), Ed Draper (men's track & field), Jared Siemers (men's track & field), Liz Speicher (women's cross country), J.J. Sanchez (football), Lauren Bozesky (women's soccer), Taylor Byrd (women's soccer), Nikki Edwards (women's soccer), Whitney Dupuis (softball), Jessica Bollinger (women's track & field), Erica Grajales-Escalusa (women's track & field), Lauren McNamara (women's track & field) and Paige Dossey (volleyball) were the Medal of Honor winners after carrying a perfect 4.0 GPA.
Southeast had the most Medal of Honor recipients among OVC schools in men's cross country (4), women's soccer (3) and men's track & field (5).
The Redhawks OVC Commisioner's Honor Roll honorees included 15 individuals from baseball, two from men's basketball, seven from women's basketball, 11 from men's cross country, five from women's cross country, 13 from football, 14 from women's soccer, nine from softball, three from women's tennis, 16 from men's track & field, 13 from women's track & field, 10 from volleyball and 13 from women's gymnastics (non-OVC sport).
Morehead State was awarded the 2010-11 OVC Institutional Academic Achievement Award for an OVC-record 11th time.
It was also announced that a record 164 OVC student-athletes received the Medal of Honor for the 2010-11 season. The 164 honorees surpass the previous record of 146 in 2009-10. It also marks the seventh year in a row where there have been over 100 winners.
In all, 1,039 student-athletes were named to the 2010-11 OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll, just five off the all-time record (set each of the last two seasons). To be listed, recipients must have achieved at least a 3.25 GPA and have been eligible on the team throughout the competitive season in their chosen NCAA-sponsored sport(s) and used a season of competition (they could not have redshirted). Those numbers include 41 student-athletes who compete in non-OVC championship sports that do not compete in another conference (ex. Southeast Missouri gymnastics, UT Martin equestrian, Eastern Illinois rugby and SIU Edwardsville wrestling).
2010-11 OVC Academic Awards
