FRISCO ? The Southland Conference announced Wednesday that 798 student-athletes have been named to the Commissioner’s Spring Honor Roll.
Leading all member institutions is Sam Houston State, which landed 89 members. Highlighting the Bearkats selections are Student-Athlete of the Year recipients Ryan Bright (men’s basketball) and Jennifer Heinz (women’s golf).
Texas State boasts 78 academic honorees, including a pair of Student-Athletes of the Year in Joyce Ekworomadu (women’s basketball) and Paul Goldschmidt (baseball). In addition to academic prowess, both exhibited stellar performances in their respective sports. Ekworomadu was named the conference's Women’s Basketball Player of the Year, while Goldschmidt received Hitter of the Year honors in baseball.
UT Arlington (77), Central Arkansas (74), Southeastern Louisiana (71) and McNeese State (70) each claimed over 70 recipients. SLU members include Student-Athlete of the Year winners Matthew Carvell (men’s golf), Nina Knavs (women's tennis) and Vladimir Paunic (men's tennis).
Northwestern State (65), Nicholls State (63) and UTSA (61) each pulled in more than 60 members. Among those selected are ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American Mike Jaworski, SLC Softball Student-Athlete of the Year Cary Bruno of Northwestern State and SLC Baseball Player of the Year Michael Rockett.
Rounding out the league’s recipients were Lamar (56), Stephen F. Austin (53) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (41). LU’s Clerc Koenck and TAMUCC’s Shadrack Songok are the only athletes in league history to claim three seperate Student-Athlete of the Year awards in the same season, as both were voted Cross Country, Indoor Track & Field and Outdoor Track & Field Student-Athlete of the Year.
Presented by Capital One Bank, the honor roll recognizes student-athletes who competed in league championship sports during the spring semester and maintained a 3.0 grade-point average while enrolled in a minimum of 12 hours.
UTSA honorees
Baseball (13)
Andy Benedict, Jr., Marketing
Zach Calhoon, So., Management
Bradley Chovanec, Sr., Kinesiology
Kevin Clarke, So., Business
J.T. Mackey, Jr., Interdisciplinary Studies
Tim Palincsar, So., Management
Aaron Powell, Jr., Finance
Ryan Proudfoot, So., Real Estate Finance
Michael Rockett, Jr., Economics
Kris Ruepke, Jr., Kinesiology
Mark Ruffin, Sr., Kinesiology
Ryan Rummel So., Accounting
Jason Walls, Fr., Undeclared
Men's Basketball (3)
Cody Dotson-Lara, Fr., Biology
Devin Gibson, Fr., Business
Joey Shank, Jr., Economics
Women's Basketball (7)
Tia Bogan, Sr., Biology
Regan Burks, So., Management
Andrea Garcia, Jr., Community Health
Courtney Laing, So., Kinesiology
Kara McKay, Jr., English
Reba Pawlaczyk, Jr., Biology
Whitney York, Fr., Business
Men's Golf (4)
Sean Burch, Sr., Civil Engineering
Kyle Collins, Jr., General Business
Thomas Kearney, Sr., General Business
Philipp Krohn, Sr., Marketing
Women's Golf (2)
Laeni Bendzik, Jr., Business
Michelle Kowalick, Sr., Communications
Softball (4)
Whitney Balch, Fr., Mathematics
Chelsey Chapman, So., Biology
Amanda Nikolenko, Sr., Interdisciplinary Studies
Leanne Risberg, Jr., Kinesiology
Men's Tennis (6)
Adam Becker, Sr., Kinesiology
Robin Fernandes, Jr., Accounting
Andre Moreira, Jr., Management
Daniel Moreiras, Fr., Engineering
Rodrigo Morgado, So., Business
Max Stratmann, Fr., Business
Women's Tennis (7)
Caroline Dedering, Fr., Engineering
Monika Drabkova, Jr., Marketing
Tanya Hasking, Sr., International Business
Holly Phillips, So., Biology
Karen Scida, Jr., Chemistry
Eva Silvester, Jr., Biology
Nathalie Wallin, Jr., Marketing
Men's Track & Field (7)
Dillard Glass, Fr., Mechanical Engineering
Al Johnson, Fr., Undeclared
Luke Johnson, Sr., Kinesiology
Terence Watson, Fr., Undeclared
Johnathan Whittaker, So., Marketing
Jun Yang, So., Mechanical Engineering
Dominick Zucconi, Fr., Business
Women's Track & Field (8)
Faith Barlow, So., Interdisciplinary Studies
Jaclyn Bobmanuel, Fr., Biology
Rikki Gray, Sr., Interdisciplinary Studies
Rebekah Hill, So., Communications
Aimee Jonas, Fr., Interior Design
Jessica Jones, So., Finance
Dana Mecke, So., Engineering
Kari Michalik, Sr., Kinesiology