A group of 24 Bulldog student-athletes have been named to the University of Minnesota Duluth Athletic Academic Support Center Scholar List for maintaining the highest cumulative grade point average during the 2008-09 school year in their respective sports.
Seven seniors, five juniors, six sophomores and six freshmen, all of whom were 2008-09 letterwinners, comprise the Athletic Support Center Scholar List (*denotes number of previous selections):
Name Sports Yr. Major GPA Hometown
Ben Heggestad Baseball Jr. Pre-Dentistry 3.987 Duluth, Minn.
Josh Taran* Baseball So. Business 3.934 Hermantown, Minn.
John Vaudreuil Basketball (M) Sr. Master of Business Admin 3.607 Bloomington, Minn.
Kelsey Hewitt Basketball(W) So. Education 3.934 Chippewa Falls, Wis.
Steph Reiter Basketball(W) Sr. Graphic Design 3.906 Blaine, Minn.
Emma Van Winkle Basketball(W) Fr. Anthropology 3.902 Des Moines, Iowa
Matt Venaas Cross Country(M) Fr. Education 4.00 Eau Claire, Wis.
Bridget Hines* Cross Country (W) So. Exercise Science 3.921 Maple Grove, Minn.
Megan Pierce Cross Country (W) Jr. Geological Sciences 3.909 Hayward, Wis.
Issac Odim Football So. Engineering 3.914 Rochester, Minn.
Zach Roelofs Football Fr. Engineering 3.892 Glyndon, Minn.
Tobias Lemke* Football Jr. Criminology 3.879 Essen, Germany
Rob Bordson Hockey(M) So. Business 3.792 Duluth, Minn.
Kyle Schmidt* Hockey(M) So. Business 3.758 Hermantown, Minn.
Johanna Ellison* Hockey(W) Sr. History 3.866 Cloquet, Minn.
Becky Anderson* Soccer So. Biochemistry 3.815 Duluth, Minn.
Clare Dahmen Soccer Jr. International Studies 3.800 Hopkins, Minn.
Amanda Van Effen Softball Sr. Education 3.886 Escanaba, Mich.
Sarah Kabes Softball Jr. Mathematics 3.811 Richfield, Minn.
Anna Bertrang Tennis Fr. Sociology 3.508 Brooklyn Park, Minn.
Eric Atkinson Track (M) Sr. Education 3.806 Spooner, Wis.
Justina Froelich*** Track(W) Sr. Psychology 4.00 Sauk Rapids, Minn.
Jodi Degrote Track(W) Jr. Pharmacy 4.00 Sauk Rapids, Minn.
Allison Fanta Volleyball Fr. Business 4.00 Hillsboro, Wis.
In addition, the Athletic Academic Support Center, now concluding its 24th year of operation, listed 232 student-athletes (out of a possible 449) who turned in combined Fall and Spring Semester grade point averages of 3.00 or better in 200-2009. Of that group, 104 achieved GPAs of 3.50 or above in both semesters and 22 finished at least one semester with perfect 4.00 marks (six attained 4.00 GPAs in both semesters). In all, UMD student-athletes maintained an average GPA of 2.985 during the 2008-2009 school year. During Fall Semester, the women's basketball Bulldogs posted the best GPA of all UMD teams with a 3.476 mark and repeated that feat during the Spring Semester, compiling a collective 3.394 figure. They were closely followed by the women's track team (3.319).
"Our combined GPA has consistently been around the 2.90 mark for the last two decades or so," said Athletic Academic Support Center Director and Bulldog head men's basketball coach Gary Holquist. "That shows that UMD student-athletes are not only champions on the field of play, but in the class room as well."
