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119 student-athletes honored for grades

Track, swimming and diving, golf teams lead way for team

Twelve UA student athletes were awarded the Mary Roby Academic Distinguished Scholar Award last week for earning a 4.0 grade point average during the 1999 calendar year.

Also, 107 athletes were awarded the Mary Roby Academic Award for earning a 3.0 grade point average during the same time period.

"These awards say a lot about our athletic program," University of Arizona Athletic Director Jim Livengood said. "We are a program that focuses on academics as well as athletic accomplishment. Overall, all sports were represented, which shows we have a very balanced program."

Track and field led all sports with 37 honorees, including freshman Sarah Jacobs and seniors Elizabeth Giltner, Andrea Neary, Nicolas Weill and Davi Paletz, who all earned a 4.0 last year.

On average, track athletes practice between three and four hours a day with a combination of morning weight lifting and afternoon conditioning. Also, during the season, they are usually in meets from Thursday until Saturday night or Sunday morning.

"Between practice and school, I have no free time," said Neary, a pole vaulter. "I am exhausted after practice, and it takes a lot of will power to study when you are so tired."

Doing this, though, has its own rewards, as some athletes recognize their purpose at the UA goes beyond the athletic arena.

"I am here for school. I want to excel in school just as much as I do in track," Jacobs said.

Track and field head coach Dave Murray said it is rewarding to coach such great athletes and students.

"We have very hard workers on our team," Murray said. "I emphasize studying a lot, and I put as much emphasis on the classroom as I do an athletes' performance on the field."

Besides track and field, the men's and women's swimming and diving teams had 25 athletes honored, including two that had a 4.0 grade point average. Senior Jill Berg and junior Lindsay Berryman were both honored for their outstanding effort that they put into their academic achievement that led to their perfect 4.0 grade point average.

"We are proud of all of them because as a swimmer you start practice every day at 6 o'clock (a.m.), and you practice once again in the afternoon, which is very demanding and time consuming," assistant coach Greg Rhodenbaugh said. "We are just so proud of them that they have the initiative to study after they go through such a physical and demanding practice."

One of the smaller sports that was honored was the women's golf team. Amazingly, nine of the team's 11 members had a 3.0 or better, and junior Cathie Williamson had a 4.0.

"Our team is a well-rounded group," women's golf head coach Todd McCorkle said. "Our girls are as serious about their schoolwork as they are about their golf game."

Other athletes that earned a 4.0 were senior Megan Canaday (soccer), senior Kevin Huff (baseball), freshman Kenneth Riley (baseball) and sophomore Jari Niskala (tennis).