April 9, 2003

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Southeast Missouri State University honored 129 student-athletes as Southeast Scholar Athletes on Wednesday during the Scholar Athlete Luncheon sponsored by Southeast Missouri Hospital.

The 129 Scholar Athletes, recognized for having a 3.0 or higher cumulative grade point average, represent 46% of the 283 student-athletes at Southeast.

In addition to the 129 athletes, eight cheerleaders, five Sundancers and 14 student trainers were also named Scholar Athletes.

Ohio Valley Conference academic award winners were also recognized including track athlete Laura VanHoevelaak who is the recipient of the OVC Scholar Athlete Award for 2002-2003. This is the highest honor that can be achieved by an OVC athlete. She is also a Verizon Academic All-American, four-time OVC Medal of Honor Winner, and a four-time Southeast Scholar Athlete.

VanHoevelaak graduated last May with a perfect 4.0 grade point average and is currently in graduate school and completing her final year of outdoor track eligibility.

Southeast student-athletes won a school record and OVC-high 21 OVC Academic Meals of Honor for the 2001-2002 school year. Medals of Honor are given annually to the student-athletes who achieve the highest grade point average in a conference sponsored sport. Southeast winners include Derek Winans (basketball), Amy Arteme, Jen Burke, Kim Krieger, Jessie Thompson, Laura VanHoevelaak and Kris Woolf (women's cross country), Jen Cross, Karen Schmidt and Nichole Thiele (soccer), Kelly Birk and Brooke Nett (softball), Kay Ehlke (tennis), Amy Arteme, Jen Burke, Sara Kaznica, Kim Krieger, Jessie Thompson, Laura VanHoevelaak and Kris Woolf (women's track), and Emily Wahlman (volleyball).

A perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average was attained by 14 student-athletes at Southeast including Joey Pilcher (baseball), Derek Winans (basketball), Matt Boyack (football), Kay Ehlke (tennis), Jen Burke (track), Michele Jett (track), Kim Krieger (track), Kris Woolf (track) Lindsay Zeiler (track), Emily Zimmerman (track), Kelly Birk (softball), Jen Cross (soccer), Ashley DeRoy (soccer) and Lauren Fabbro (soccer).

The female student-athletes have a phenomenal academic record at Southeast with 71% of the female student-athletes with a 3.0 or higher GPA. The cumulative GPA for female athletes is 3.276. All of the women's athletic teams have a 3.0 or higher GPA with the women's cross country team having the highest team GPA with a 3.762.

The highest GPA for a men's team is 3.249 for men's cross country.