Athletics News

April 14, 2009

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EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State's Student-Athlete Support Services hosted the 12th-annual Spartan Academic Excellence Gala at the Kellogg Center on Monday night. The Spartan athletic teams and their student-athletes were honored for their tremendous success in the classroom during the 2008-09 academic year. In total 225 student-athletes were honored.

Amanda Ruhno, a women's rowing coxswain, received the President's Award, having earned a 3.966 GPA in mechanical engineering.

Capping off the event was the presentation of the President's Awards, given to the male and female graduating senior with the highest cumulative grade point average. This year's recipients were Doug DeMartin of the men's soccer team and Amanda Ruhno of the women's rowing squad. DeMartin, who was the Big Ten Player of the Year and a second team All-American this season, graduated in December with a degree in finance, while earning a cumulative GPA of 3.899. Ruhno will graduate in May with a degree in mechanical engineering and currently holds a GPA of 3.966. A coxswain, she coxed the 2008 Big Ten Champion second varsity four boat, and this season is coxing the first varsity four shell.

The other award winners of the night included men's hockey senior Jeff Lerg, who took home the Gwendolyn Norrell Community Service and Leadership Award, and women's gymnastics junior Rochelle Robinson, the recipient of the Multicultural Award, honoring someone who best represents the mission and goals of SASS's Multicultural Program. In addition, men's basketball newcomer Draymond Green and women's soccer standout Laura Heyboer received the Harold & Raynor Shnider Office of the Provost Award, issued to a male and female MSU freshman who has excelled in academics, community outreach, leadership and athletics.

The men's and women's tennis teams were honored with the Athletic Director's Cup, having compiled the best team GPA among the 25 MSU varsity sports. The men's team has a cumulative GPA of 3.27, while the women's squad has a 3.47 GPA.

The following were the 2009 recipients of the Top Scholar-Athlete Award for each sport.
Baseball - Kyle Corcoran
Men's Basketball - Tom Herzog
Women's Basketball - Mandy Piechowski
Men's Cross Country - Michael Quick
Women's Cross Country - Jennifer Hamilton
Field Hockey - Geraldine Raynor
Football - Blair White
Men's Golf - Jordan Ensrud
Women's Golf - Holly Niederkohr
Women's Gymnastics - Kelly Moffitt
Hockey - Jeff Lerg
Rowing - Amanda Ruhno
Men's Soccer - Doug DeMartin
Women's Soccer - Megan Brown
Softball - Karen Fox
Men's Swimming & Diving - Mark Rogers
Women's Swimming & Diving - Kara Wackerle
Men's Tennis - Jason Norville
Women's Tennis - Stephanie Kebler
Men's Track & Field - Anthony Agrusa
Women's Track & Field - Zoe Pelbart
Volleyball - Jenilee Rathje
Wrestling - Rex Kendle

James E. Delany, the commissioner of the Big Ten Conference was this year's keynote speaker, while Laura Cowal of the women's rowing team provided the evening's entertainment with her singing.

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