Student-athletes rake in academic awards at banquet

The 11th anniversary of National Student-Athlete Day is April 6, but the celebration of Penn State student-athletes started Monday with the Student-Athlete Advisory Board Academic Achievement Awards Banquet.

National Student-Athlete Day (NSAD) is sponsored by the National Consortium for Academics and Sports, Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society and the NCAA.

The banquet is held each year to honor those student-athletes who achieved academic excellence during the previous academic year while competing in a varsity sport. More than 600 people were on hand in The Bryce Jordan Center Auxiliary Gym, including advisors, administration, student athletes and coaches from each team.

Co-chaired by Lady Lion tennis player Tiffany Gorman and swimmer Elissa Bellairs, a total of 256 awards were presented to 199 student-athletes for their academic accomplishments in 1996-97. All 199 honorees, a record number of recipients, earned a 3.0 grade point average or higher during the past year.

Seventy-four posted a 3.5 GPA or better last year. Presentations also were made to the 61 senior student-athletes who had a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher through the fall 1997 semester.

"It's good to see that the University rewards athletes for their academics as well as their athletics," said Lady Lion tennis player Kate Ovelman.

Special awards were presented to students who achieved a 3.5 GPA or higher. Among them were wrestler Andrew Stolbach and volleyball player Daniel Schall, the only student athletes to achieve a 4.0 GPA for the 1996-97 academic year.

For the second straight year, the women's swimming and diving team received the team award as the varsity sport with the highest cumulative GPA.

"The competition for this award is so fierce between the teams -- it's great that we won it again," Bellairs said.

Fourteen Penn State teams had higher than a 3.0 average GPA for the 1996-97 academic year.

In addition to awards given by the University, student-athletes were recognized for awards given by outside sources. A record 196 Penn State student-athletes garnered Academic All-Big Ten honors for the 1996-97 academic year, 30 more than the previous year. Lion linebacker Aaron Collins was a Burger King/National Football Foundation-College Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete, the third consecutive year a Penn State student-athlete has held that title.

Before the night concluded, the Nittany Lion Club presented its "True Grit" award to the male and female athletes who have overcome the most adversity in their careers at Penn State.

The women's recipient was swimmer Carmen Kondra. She posted the fastest time in Penn State history as a freshman while battling through severe pains the entire season due to an inflamation of the intestine.

The men's recipient, wrestler John Lange, was simply happy to be healthy and not just to receive the award. Hampered by injuries his entire career, he had a stellar season cut short last season by a pair of knee injuries midway through the year. He returned this season to take third at nationals and garnered All-American honors.

"People tend to overlook awards like these," Gorman said. "I think of it as an honor, and it shows we can get an education while playing a sport."