June 28, 2011

By Danielle Marshall
Athletic Media Relations

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Fifty-four Colorado State student-athletes earned a total of 62 Scholar-Athlete awards from the Mountain West for their work in the classroom during the 2010-11 academic year. The MW made the announcement Tuesday.

The 54 student-athletes honored by the MW represent all 16 of CSU’s varsity athletics programs, including eight student athletes –Ryan Friese, Christian Meyer, Kendra Gerk, Kaitlin Hanenburg, Ellie Keyser, Hannah Pensack-Rinehart, Nicole Peters and Aliese Willard – were recognized twice for their efforts as part of the CSU cross country and indoor/outdoor track and field programs.

Track and field athlete Kalie Kirk, cross country runner Becky Schmitt and sisters Tara and Tasia DeMuth from the swimming and diving program, were four of 29 individuals throughout the MW to post perfect 4.00 cumulative grade-point averages.

The MW Scholar-Athlete award is the highest academic honor bestowed by the conference. To be eligible for selection, student-athletes must have completed at least two academic terms at the member institution, while maintaining a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or better, and have participated in varsity competition in an NCAA-sponsored sport.

The Rams' 62 Scholar-Athlete award winners are: