MACOMB, Ill. - On the heels of their most successful athletic year in school history, Western Illinois student-athletes also have something to brag about in the classroom, according to the Fall ‘06 grade reports which were recently compiled by WIU’s Office of Institutional Research.
Half of Western’s sport programs and 50 percent of the approximately 400 student-athletes earned grade point averages of at least 3.00 last semester. Thirty-one students recorded a perfect 4.00 GPA, leading to an overall student-athlete semester GPA of 2.83 - just below the overall University semester GPA of 2.87.
“We have always valued our student-athletes’ academic success,” said Director of Athletics Dr. Tim Van Alstine. “We expect them to aspire to succeed at the very highest level possible, both academically and athletically. Simply getting eligible is not acceptable.”
Western Illinois placed 58 student-athletes on the Fall 2006 Mid-Continent Academic All-Conference Team earlier this week, just one shy of Valparaiso which had a league-high 59 honorees. To be placed on the list, student-athletes must have a 3.00 or better GPA in the semester in which they compete. A total of 356 Mid-Con student-athletes from the sports of men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball were honored.
The volleyball team, which had the highest GPA of any Western Illinois team last semester at 3.433, placed 11 of its 13 members (85 percent) on the academic all-conference list. The women’s soccer team was also well-represented, with 24 of its 33 players (73 percent) earning league honors, eight of which earned a perfect 4.0 GPA. The men’s golf team had the highest GPA of any men’s team at Western Illinois last semester, 3.192. Other teams with at least a 3.0 semester GPA were softball (3.396), women’s golf (3.307), women’s soccer (3.296), women’s swimming and diving (3.177), men’s tennis (3.137), men’s cross country (3.025) and women’s basketball (3.001).
“The student-athletes deserve all the credit for their hard work, dedication and sacrifice,” Van Alstine continued. “Being an NCAA Division I student-athlete is very difficult and very, very time consuming. But our success starts with our coaches. Not only are they responsible for recruiting the very best student-athletes, they have also reinforced the expectation we have for their academic success.”
Athletically, Western Illinois is following its most successful year as more teams earned Mid-Con titles in 2005-06 than any of the past 10 years and more teams advanced to NCAA postseason tournaments than any year in Western’s Division I history.
Already this year, men’s soccer won the Mid-Con title, volleyball finished as the runner-up, and women’s soccer advanced to the title game of the Mid-Con Tournament. Baseball, men’s tennis and softball were ranked either first or second in the 2006 Mid-Con preseason polls.
“The student-athletes have just raised the bar again,” said Van Alstine. “While I am pleased with our progress, we will continue to strive for that overall mark of 3.0 and see that each and every student-athlete graduates. Our priorities haven’t changed. We still want to graduate student-athletes, win championships, and advance to NCAA post-season play.”
Student-Athletes with a 4.0 GPA for Fall 2006
Matt Barr, Football*
Lindsay Boss, Basketball
Elaine Bruhn, Soccer
Samantha Clark, Soccer
Kyle Davis, Swimming*
Michelle Donnelly, Volleyball
Amy Douglas, Softball
Jessica Drake, Tennis
Derek Gibb, Track & Field*
Kyle Glazier, Football*
Luke Greenwell, Soccer
Angie Guy, Soccer
Emily Harrison, Volleyball*
Melissa Jay, Track & Field*
Shane Kwaterski, Golf*
Brittany Mason, Softball
Andrew Maxwell, Baseball*
Patty Melinauskas, Volleyball
Angie Oltman, Track & Field*
Lori Pankratz, Softball*
Katie Pickford, Track & Field
Patrick Prina, Baseball
Samantha Quigle, Basketball
Elizabeth Rapp, Soccer
Julia Remes, Soccer*
Amy Sauerwein, Soccer
Kim Schuneman, Soccer
Amanda Smith, Swimming
Lisa Suellentrop, Volleyball
Walt Williss, Track & Field
Amanda Wright, Soccer*
*Cumulative 4.0 GPA
