Thirty-four student-athletes named Academic All-Big Sky
7/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | General
July 5, 2011
Posting the program's best Big Sky Conference finish in nearly a quarter century: exceptional. Doing it with 19 Academic All-Big Sky Conference selections on the active roster: priceless.
The University of Montana women's outdoor track and field team - second to Sacramento State at May's outdoor championships - had 19 athletes on the Big Sky's recently-announced spring all-academic teams - second most in the conference behind Eastern Washington's 20.
The dual runner-up finishes by the team gives the Grizzlies as a whole another boast-worthy example of ongoing excellence at both ends of the two-sided student-athlete balance.
"The credit absolutely goes to the athletes," track and field program director Brian Schweyen said. "It's all about self-motivation and putting the time in.
"A lot of credit also needs to go to Jen (Zellmer-Cuaresma) and Darr (Tucknott, our academic advisors)."
The team had a spring-semester grade point average of 3.24, all the more impressive considering the number of athletes competing and that they were - between the indoor and outdoor seasons - essentially in-season the entirety of the semester.
"It comes down to time management," Schweyen added. "Student-athletes have to balance athletics, academics and their social lives, and the better they learn those skills in college, the better off they're going to be the rest of their lives.
"A lot of them are showing they are already great at it."
Montana had 34 selections overall from its women's golf, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's outdoor track and field teams.
The Grizzlies' total tied for fourth in the conference behind Eastern Washington, which had 46 selections, Montana State, which had 40, and Weber State, which had 38.
Idaho State also had 34 selections.
Northern Arizona finished with 29 selections, Northern Colorado and Sacramento State 24 and Portland State 19.
Montana had five men's outdoor track and field athletes recognized, four from women's tennis and three each from women's golf and men's tennis.
Seniors Chris Hicks, of the men's track and field program, and Hannah Stanton, from the women's track and field team, both maxed out on career academic selections.
Hicks, who posted a 3.52 cumulative grade point average for his academic career as a health and human performance major, earned his eighth indoor and outdoor nod.
Stanton, a 3.86 mathematics major, earned four career outdoor selections as a javelin thrower.
To be eligible for Academic All-Big Sky Conference consideration, student-athletes need to have participated in at least half of their team's competitions and finished the most recent semester with a cumulative (UM career) GPA of at least 3.20.
Montana's 2011 Spring Academic All-Big Sky Conference selections
Women's golf (3): Ashli Helstrom (Jr., management information systems), Carissa Simmons (Sr., marketing), Olivia Weber (So., philosophy)
Women's tennis (4): Heather Davidson (So., marketing), Lauren Gibson (Jr., political science), Ashley Mackey (Fr., undeclared), Whitney Paluch (Gr., social work)
Men's tennis (3): Mikolaj Caruk (Fr., health and human performance), Micael Facey (So., accounting), Carl Kuschke (Jr., finance)
Women's outdoor track and field (19): Gwenn Abbott (So., health and human performance), Heidi Biehl (Gr., physical therapy), Caitlin Caraway (Fr., health and human performance), Rebekah Collins (Fr., sociology), Keli Dennehy (Fr., business administration), Nycole Devers (Fr., sociology), Kara DeWalt (Sr., biology), Emily Eickholt (So., pharmacy), Nicole Ennen (Jr., psychology), Kellee Glaus (Fr., biology), Anika Green (So., accounting), Bridgette Hoenke (Sr., education), Melissa Jenkins (Jr., biology), Courtney Kosovich (Jr., health and human performance), Addie Lepley (So., health and human performance), Brittany Schroeder (So., health and human performance), Hannah Stanton (Sr., mathematics), Barbara Steward (Jr., health and human performance), Jennifer Walter (Sr., accounting)
Men's outdoor track and field (5): Jason Flemmer (Sr., sociology), Chris Hicks (Sr., health and human performance), Casey Weinman (Jr., resource conservation), Alex White (Fr., health and human performance), Seth Wiley (So., health and human performance)
