Campus Life

Student-Athletes Honored At CHAMP Banquet

The annual Texas A&M Athletics CHAMPS Banquet was held Wednesday at The Zone at Kyle Field.
May 6, 2010

The annual Texas A&M Athletics CHAMPS Banquet, sponsored by Carolyn and Tommie E. Lohman ’59, was held Wednesday at The Zone at Kyle Field where 401 student-athletes and student support staff were honored for posting a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher during the 2009 calendar year. Of those, 53 earned an “Outstanding Athletics Scholar Award” for posting a 4.0 GPA for one or both semesters.

Aggie football defensive back Jordan Peterson (Lexington, TX) and women’s golf standout Ashley Freeman (Belleville, IL) were named the Bill Erwin Scholar-Athletes of the Year.

Peterson graduated in May 2009 with his degree in sports management and continues to work on his master’s degree in educational curriculum and instruction. His play in the Aggie secondary helped the team reach the Independence Bowl. During his career, he earned Academic All-Big 12 honors every year he was eligible and was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America All-Region squad, as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Freeman has served as the president of the Texas A&M Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and as a senior helped lead the Aggie women’s golf team to the Big 12 Championship last month. Freeman won the individual Big 12 title in 2009 and has been named to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America squad every year she has been eligible.

Aggie senior basketball player Donald Sloan (Dallas, TX) was named the male Distinguished Letterman for his outstanding play on the hardwood. Sloan, a first-team All-Big 12 selection as a senior, was named the Acie Law IV MVP by his teammates and helped the senior class of Aggie basketball to 100 wins in his four years.

Aggie senior swimmer Julia Wilkinson (Stratford, Ontario, Canada) was named the female Distinguished Letterman for her outstanding accomplishments in the swimming pool, including a national championship her senior season in the 100-yard freestyle. Wilkinson was honored as a junior with the Bill Erwin female Scholar-Athlete Award and has been a key performer as the Aggies have never finished below 11th at the NCAA Championships with her on the squad. The past four years, the women’s swimming and diving team has finished among the Top Eight at nationals. She has been named the Big 12 Swimmer of the Year twice in her career.

Men’s basketball senior Shawn Schepel (Dallas, TX) and women’s senior swimmer Ella Doerge (Clive, IA) were named the recipients of the Prentice Gautt Big 12 Postgraduate Scholarship Awards.

Schepel was named the Dr. John Thornton Academic Award winner by his basketball teammates and coaches, while Doerge was named an NCAA Elite 88 Academic Award winner by the NCAA at the 2010 NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships in West Lafayette, IN. The honor is presented to an individual competing in the national championships while also achieving the highest academic standard among their peers.

On the other end of the seniority spectrum, Aggie men’s swimmer Omar Enriquez (San Andres Tuxtla, Mexico) and Aggie softball player Meagan May (Spring, TX) were named the male and female Freshman of the Year.

Enriquez set four school records this season and recorded three top five finishes at the Big 12 Championships. The school records were the oldest marks on the books and his performance helped the men’s swimming and diving team finish 14th at the NCAA Championships, its 15th straight Top 25 finish.

May is having one of the best freshman years of any Aggie, or of any Big 12 softball player in history. She has hit 21 homeruns to set an Aggie single-season record and is second all-time in Big 12 history. She currently leads the Big 12 in six offensive categories.

The Award of Excellence is presented to an athletic supporter within the athletics department who goes above and beyond in their support of all of the Texas A&M student athletes and assistant director of compliance Susan Tatum was selected by the student-athletes.

The Cleo Whitlock Award honors a person outside of the athletics department who has gone above and beyond in his or her support of Aggie student-athletes and athletic programs. The honor is selected by SAAC after nominations are taken from all student-athletes. The 2010 winner was Pat DiCuffa who assists in the writing lab in the Nye Academic Center.

The Lohman Learning Achievement Award recognizes an Aggie student-athlete who has demonstrated integrity and perseverance in overcoming incredible challenges in pursuit of his or her education and who shows commitment to working with, and learning from others, while serving as a role model for other students. The 2010 award winner was Coryell Judie (Marlin, TX), a defensive back who was redshirted last fall, and while recovering from injury, persevered and made great strides in the classroom.

The team with the highest combined grade point average was the women’s swimming and diving team led by head coach Steve Bultman and diving coach Jay Lerew.

Other teams which had a combined grade point of 3.0 or higher included: equestrian, soccer, volleyball, and men’s and women’s cross country.

LIST OF AWARD WINNERS:

Bill Erwin Scholar-Athletes:

  • Jordan Peterson (Football)
  • Ashley Freeman (Golf)

Distinguished Letterman:

  • Donald Sloan (Basketball)
  • Julia Wilkinson (Swimming & Diving)

Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship:

  • Shawn Schepel (Basketball)
  • Ella Doerge (Swimming & Diving)

Freshman of the Year:

  • Omar Enriquez (Swimming & Diving)
  • Meagan May (Softball)

Lohman Learning Achievement Award:

  • Coryell Judie (Football)

Cleo Whitlock Award:

  • Pat DiCuffa (Writing Lab)

Award of Excellence:

  • Susan Tatum (Compliance)

Highest Team GPA:

  • Women’s Swimming & Diving

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