April 28, 2009
SAN DIEGO - A total of 229 student-athletes were recognized at the 15th annual San Diego State Scholar-Athlete Banquet on Monday at Montezuma Hall in Aztec Center. Local news anchor Larry Himmel served as master of ceremonies at the event, which honored Aztec student-athletes with at least a 3.0 cumulative or a 3.2 semester grade-point average during the calendar year of 2008.
The highest honor handed out was the Malik Award, which is named after Professor Emeritus Jim Malik, who was a chemistry professor at San Diego State and a long-time Faculty Athletic Representative. The award is given to those student-athletes having the highest GPAs in the respective semesters.
The spring 2008 Malik Award recipients were Joanna Burley (track and field), David Dally (men's soccer), Eliska Krausova (women's tennis) and Jillian Riker (women's soccer). Meanwhile, Alexandra Colvin (track and field), Roxanne Ellison (women's tennis), Elisabeth Krueger (swimming and diving), Jeanette McConnell (track and field), Jonathan Soto (football) and Rachel Williams (cross country/track) each received Malik Awards for fall 2008. Andrea Norton (cross country/track) received Malik Awards for both the fall and spring 2008 semesters.
Women's tennis senior Esther Cadua garnered the Aztec Award, which is given to one student-athlete who has demonstrated excellence in academics and athletics, as well as outstanding leadership and character.
The Faculty Athletic Representative Award was presented to the men's and women's tennis teams for both the spring and the fall semester in 2008. The award is given to the Aztec men's and women's athletic teams with the highest overall GPA for that particular semester.
Men's basketball senior Kelvin Davis was awarded the SDSU Wilma Rudolph Award, which honors a student-athlete who has overcome great personal, academic and/or emotional odds to achieve.
The Aztec rowing team was presented with the second-annual Montezuma Cup, presented by Ron and Alexis Fowler, for the 2007-08 season. The vision of the Montezuma Cup is to provide SDSU student-athletes with a rewarding and holistic life skills experience grounded in a competitive framework. Teams of student-athletes will "compete" during the academic year through their participation and measurable success in the various CHAMPS/Life Skills categories. The team achieving the most points by the end of the competition wins the cup.
In addition, a total of 70 SDSU student-athletes were named to the Mountain West Conference all-academic squad for having a 3.0 GPA or better and being a starter or significant contributor on their team. MWC Scholar-Athlete honors were also presented to 30 Aztecs who maintained a cumulative 3.5 GPA or better.
Since the inception of the SDSU scholar-athlete program in 1994, more than 2,400 student-athletes have been honored for maintaining a 3.0 grade-point average.