Nine SHSU women named all-academic honorees
6/21/2016 12:26:00 PM | Women's Track & Field
HUNTSVILLE – The Sam Houston State women boasted a league-leading nine athletes on the 2016 Southland Conference Cross Country and Track and Field All-Academic Team, the conference office announced Tuesday.
Ruth Amaku, Danielle Demas, Camry Grigsby, Briana McCall, Nicole Aponte, Elizabeth Lyssy, Avery Zamzow, Ana Moreno and Olivia Olguin were awarded for their work on the track and in the classroom.
“On the women's team the last couple years it has been an embarrassment of riches,” head coach David Self said. “Only three of the nine are seniors so we have a lot of folks doing great things. You'll see that these young ladies will do the same thing in life.”
Amaku posted a 3.54 GPA in health sciences while being named First-Team All-Southland as a member of the 4x400-meter relay squad both indoors and outdoors. The senior took runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles (58.82) at the outdoor championships.
Aponte joined the squad after earning a 4.0 GPA in victim services management while taking Second-Team All-Southland Conference as a member of the runner-up distance medley relay team (11:48.59) indoors. The Kingwood native also took fourth indoors in the mile (4:58.25).
For Demas, the award is another notch on a decorated career. The senior was First-Team All-Southland in three different events, named Southland indoor female “Athlete of the Year” and “Outstanding Running Events Female Athlete.” She also earned a 3.22 GPA while majoring in health.
Grigsby, a three-time First-Team All-Southland honoree, was a member of the outdoor champion 4x400-meter relay squad (3:40.00) as well as the indoor championship event (3:41.13) in addition to winning the 800 meters (2:09.68). The DeSoto native boasted a 3.16 GPA in public health.
Lyssy was All-Southland as a runner-up in the javelin (149 feet, 4 inches) outdoors and as a Dean's List student, posted a 3.74 GPA in accounting. The San Antonio native was the javelin champion at the UH Yokubaitus Invitational and took the runner-up spot at four other events.
McCall was another First-Team All-Southland automatic selection after running on the 4x400-meter relay (3:40.00) championship team and posting a 3.00 GPA. The public health major, and local Huntsville product, was also runner-up both indoors and outdoors in the 800 meters.
Meanwhile, Moreno added another award to her tremendous career as the senior was named to the list after finishing All-Conference Third Team with a third-place finish at the indoor meet in the 5,000 meters (17:11.23) while taking fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (11:05.27). The Magnolia product posted a 3.37 GPA while majoring in criminal justice.
Olguin's honor follows a Third-Team All-Southland honor and bronze finish at the Southland Outdoor meet in the 10,000 meters (36:43.12) while also taking 25th in the cross country meet and 51st at the NCAA Regional Cross Country meet. The junior maintained a 3.13 GPA in kinesiology.
Lastly, Zamzow took First-Team All-Southland Conference after winning the pentathlon indoors with a score of 3,582 and taking third in the heptathlon with 5,045 points. The Goliad native posted a 3.19 GPA while majoring in computing science.
“Every coach that goes to talk to a kid says we're serious about academics,” Self said. “We can say that but we can back it up. Nobody in the Southland does it like we do. It's a good thing to say.”
To be considered, a student-athlete must have a minimum of a 3.00 cumulative grade point average, have completed at least one full academic year at the nominating institution and have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competition.
“The success we have is built around a culture that Mrs. (Chris) Thompson and Dr. (Jessica) Payne started here,” Self said. “If you come to Sam Houston and are serious about your academics, there is no way you can't be successful. We give you every tool you'll need to be a successful student-athlete here."
2015-16 ACADEMIC ALL-SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE TEAM
|
Name |
School |
Class |
GPA |
Major |
|
Alexandria Hackett |
Abilene Christian |
Jr. |
3.96 |
Financial Management |
|
Diana Garcia-Munoz |
Abilene Christian |
Jr. |
3.79 |
Accounting |
|
Myah Antwi |
UIW |
Jr. |
3.83 |
Biology |
|
Sarea Alexander |
UIW |
So. |
3.08 |
Athletic Training |
|
Alexandra Sokolova |
Lamar |
Jr. |
3.15 |
Communication |
|
Jannika John |
Lamar |
Gr. |
4.00 |
Kinesiology |
|
Verity Ockenden |
Lamar |
Gr. |
4.00 |
English |
|
Nicole Casper |
McNeese |
Sr. |
3.17 |
Health |
|
Ashley Aldredge |
Northwestern State |
Gr. |
3.07 |
Sport Administration |
|
Por'sha Thomas |
Northwestern State |
Sr. |
3.22 |
Biology |
|
De'Shalyn Jones |
Northwestern State |
So. |
3.10 |
Psychology |
|
Sam Houston |
Sr. |
3.54 |
Health Sciences |
|
|
Sam Houston |
Sr. |
3.22 |
Health |
|
|
Sam Houston |
So. |
3.16 |
Public Health |
|
|
Sam Houston |
Jr. |
3.00 |
Public Health |
|
|
Courtney High |
Stephen F. Austin |
Jr. |
3.93 |
Food and Nutrition Dietetics |
|
Madeline Kaufman |
Stephen F. Austin |
Jr. |
3.03 |
Mass Media |
|
Shelby Pesek |
Stephen F. Austin |
Gr. |
4.00 |
Public Administration |
|
Gemma Bridge |
McNeese |
Gr. |
4.0 |
Health |
|
Michaela Hackett |
Abilene Christian |
Jr. |
4.00 |
Financial Management |
|
Marina Guerrero |
Abilene Christian |
Sr. |
3.93 |
Animal Science |
|
Sam Houston |
Gr. |
4.00 |
VictimServicesManagement |
|
|
Hannah McWilliams |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Jr. |
3.92 |
Marketing |
|
Sam Houston |
Sr. |
3.74 |
Accounting |
|
|
Katja Woelfl |
McNeese |
So. |
4.00 |
Business Administration |
|
Rainy Castaneda |
UIW |
Jr. |
3.56 |
Government |
|
Katrina Fite |
Stephen F. Austin |
Sr. |
3.37 |
Interdisciplinary Studies |
|
Jasmine Waring |
UIW |
Sr. |
3.51 |
Rehabilitation Sciences |
|
Kryshell Rolle |
Nicholls |
Sr. |
3.70 |
Accounting |
|
Sam Houston |
Jr. |
3.19 |
Computing Science |
|
|
Regina Salinas |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Gr. |
4.00 |
Political Science |
|
Lindsay Frost |
UIW |
Sr. |
3.96 |
Fashion Merchandising |
|
Maegan Moore |
McNeese |
Jr. |
3.34 |
Health |
|
Sam Houston |
Sr. |
3.37 |
Criminal Justice |
|
|
Melina Ortiz |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Jr. |
3.93 |
Biomedical Sciences |
|
Sam Houston |
Jr. |
3.13 |
Kinesiology |
|
|
Keila Rodriguez |
UIW |
So. |
3.92 |
Vision Science and Biology |
|
Bria McIver |
Stephen F. Austin |
Gr. |
3.82 |
Business Administration |
|
Gabrielle Estrada |
UIW |
Jr. |
3.88 |
Communication Arts |
