Whitson Earns Indoor "Student-Athlete" Honors
4/9/2015 1:42:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
Kara Whitson, senior pole vault specialist from Sam Houston, has been voted as 2015 Southland Conference Women's Indoor Track & Field “Student-Athlete of the Year.”
The award is presented annually by the Southland Conference in each league-sponsored sport to one student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All nominees must hold at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale and have demonstrated athletic achievement for at least two years at their institution.
Whitson becomes the 18th Bearkat since the award was initiated in 2007 to earn recognition as their individual sport's Southland “Student-Athlete of the Year.” With three two-time winners in the past, the total number of times a Sam Houston student-athlete has received the award stands at 21.
The Port Lavaca Calhoun product capped an outstanding indoor season in February by placing third in the women's pole vault at the 2015 indoor championships in Birmingham, Ala., with a mark of 13 feet, 0.75 inches. The performance earned Whitson All-Southland Conference honors for the third time in her college career.
Whitson started the indoor season in December by setting the Sam Houston women's indoor record with a vault of 13 feet, 2.25 inches in her first meet of the season at Texas A&M. She won pole vault individual titles at three meets during the 2015 season with gold medals at the Texas A&M Reveille, Houston Cougar Invitational and the Texas A&M Team Invitational events.
Whitson is both a President's and Dean's List student while serving on the Sam Houston State Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Executive Council. As an SAAC officer she has been active in various community events including the Ronald McDonald House pop tab drive and the Houston Food Bank & Backpack Buddies drives to end hunger in Huntsville. She also assists as a graduate student in Sam Houston's academic support and compliance office. Whitson holds a perfect 4.00 grade point average as she pursues a master's degree in Instructional Leadership.
