July 27, 2012 — Morehead State University Athletics won the Ohio Valley Conference’s Institutional Academic Achievement Award for 2011-12. It marks a league-record 12th time in 26 years that MSU has been awarded the OVC’s highest academic honor.
The Eagles also had three sports (rifle, women’s track and field and volleyball) honored with the Team Academic Achievement Awards, 19 student-athletes presented with the OVC’s Medal of Honor and 104 student-athletes on the Commissioner’s Honor.
“Our continued academic success is a testament to the dedication our student-athletes have to their education," said MSU Director of Athletics Brian Hutchinson. "They are as devoted to their studies as they are to their success on the playing field and this is a direct reflection of the dedication of our coaches, academic coordinator Valerie Ousley and Sara Larson, assistant athletic director for student-athlete services and senior woman administrator.
“I am absolutely thrilled that we have won the OVC Academic Banner for an 12th time and expect that our classroom behavior will put us in a position to continue this tradition.”
MSU’s EAGLE (Eagle Guided Learning and Enhancement) Center opened last August. The building features a 7,000 square-foot academic portion along with housing the men’s and women’s tennis teams. Larson, Ousley and Kevin Fulton, tennis coach, all have offices within the center.
“The EAGLE Center is solely for our student-athlete and is among the finest at any mid-major level college or university,” said Hutchinson. “It gives our student-athletes a superb facility to concentrate on their academic responsibilities and work towards their degrees.”
The Institutional Academic Achievement Award is presented annually to the member institution with the greatest percentage of its student-athletes named to the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll for that academic year.
MSU has won the award in seven of the past eight years, including three straight.
The team awards use the same criteria as the institutional award, applying it to each sport. The Medal of Honor is given annually to the student-athlete who achieves the highest grade point average in a conference-sponsored sport.
There were 1,061 student-athletes were named to the 2010-11 OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll. To be listed, recipients must have achieved at least a 3.25 grade point average and have been eligible and on the team throughout the competitive season in their chosen NCAA-sponsored sport or sports.
The student-athletes that were awarded a Medal of Honor include:
Baseball – Kellen Begeman, Aaron Goe;
Women’s Basketball - Allie Turner;
Men’s Cross Country – Josh Seitz;
Men’s Golf – Dean Schneider;
Women’s Golf – Emma Eksell, Sofia Pettersson, Karolina Tunstig;
Rifle - Kathleen Bush, Demi Jacques;
Soccer – Kim Borys, Devan Jordan, Paige Weber;
Softball – Kelcey McMurray, Samm Sparks;
Men’s Tennis – Nathan Martin;
Men’s Track and Field – Josh Seitz;
Volleyball - Emma Keough; Leslie Schellhaas.
MSU's OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll winners are:
Baseball - Eric Bainer, Kellen Begeman, Cole Cleveland, Nick Duff, Aaron Goe, Chase Greenwell, Austin Haney, Clark Keene, Bobby Lewis, Taylor Sears, Brice Smallwood, Garrick Whittle, Drew Williams.
Men's basketball - Jordan Percell, Ty Proffitt.
Women's basketball - Mackenzie Arledge, Linda Dixon, Natalie Greenwell, Casey Ryans, Allie Turner.
Men's cross country - James Bowens, Cameron Magro, Chase Ratliff, Josh Seitz.
Women's cross country - Kate Bomar, Kayla Burton, Holly Mandzak, Lindsey Marcum, Anya Martinez, Bri Massie, Natalie Norman, Lyndsay Norris, Laurie Stoutenburgh, Parker Winters.
Men's golf - Ian Danis, Dean Schneider.
Women’s golf - Emma Eksell, Emma Jonsson, Marisa Kamelgarn, Sofia Pettersson, Krista Power, Karolina Tunstig.
Rifle - Kathleen Bush, Nicole Heitmeyer, Demi Jacques, Kathleen Mulligan, Mary Saenger, Hannah Wagner.
Soccer - Jillian Birchmeier, Katie Blevins, Kim Borys, Caitlin Fox, Stephanie Gildehaus, Ali Hawksford, Devan Jordan, Brittany Kiracofe, Meghan Klyczek, Brittany MacLennan, Elizabeth McSparin, Alyssa Nacke, Lindsey Oettle, Sarah Phillip, Sam Toepfer, Paige Weber
Softball - Kara Arceneaux, Kayla Ashbrook, Kayla Brill, Kelcey McMurray, Amber Riddle, Samm Sparks, Elizabeth Wagner, Jami Whitcomb.
Men’s tennis - Hugo Almonte, Nathan Martin, Chris Shafik.
Women’s tennis - Alexis Garrett, Jessica Montemayor, Shilpa Naruka, Alix Young.
Men’s track and field - James Bowens, Zach Elliott, Cameron Magro, Chase Ratliff, Josh Seitz.
Women’s track and field - Kate Bomar, Kayla Burton, Linda Dixon, Holly Mandzak, Lindsay Marcum, Anya Martinez, Bri Massie, Natalie Norman, Lyndsay Norris, Parker Winters.
Volleyball - Aryn Bohannon, Colbey Cameron, Alex Fuelling, Annie Gruenschlaeger, Emma Keough, Laura McDermott, Mikayla Reese, Ellie Roberson, Lindsey Roth, Leslie Schellhaas.
