Rhea leads Razorbacks in classroom

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The spring 2009 semester has come to a close with 32 University of Arkansas student-athletes earning perfect grades including volleyball player Makenzie Rhea. More than 190 student-athletes posted grades above a 3.0 with five volleyball players in the mix. Rhea earned a 4.0 and selection to the Academic Champions list for the second consecutive semester. She is a biology major who walked on the team last year. Senior Caira Dortch and seniors-to-be Lindsay Scanlan and Kristin Seaton were selected to the Athletic Director’s List with grades in the 3.50-3.00 range. Dortch wrapped up her playing career in the fall and is a psychology major. Scanlan and Seaton return for their final seasons this fall. Scanlan is a criminal justice major and Seaton is majoring in kinesiology. Junior Heather Royal and sophomore Kelli Stipanovich were selected to the Athletic Department Honor Roll with grades above 3.00. Royal is a sociology major and Stipanovich is majoring in communication. Women’s swimming and diving paced the department with eight Academic Champions. They were closely followed by five members of the women’s track and field/cross country team and four members of the soccer team. Softball and men’s track and field/cross country each had three student-athletes with 4.0 GPAs. Baseball and women’s tennis had two and there was one member from women’s golf, football, volleyball, gymnastics and men’s tennis with perfect semester grades. “We are proud of the many academic accomplishments of our student-athletes,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long said. “These academic champions balance the rigors of a full-time academic schedule with the demands of practice, training and competing athletically in their given sports. This special group of student-athletes has demonstrated the ability to not only compete, but succeed both in the classroom and in athletic competition.” A pair of tennis All-Americans headlined the list of Academic Champions. Aurelija Miseviciute and Blake Strode are both economics majors. The seniors recently capped off their careers at the NCAA Women’s and Men’s National Championships. Nanar Airpetian from women’s tennis also earned Academic Champion honors. The Razorback swimming and diving teams always seem to excel in the classroom and this semester was no exception. They had eight perfect semesters from Gina Bargiachi, Stephanie Carr, Jessica Clark, Sarah Howard, Summer Jackson, Lisa Lunkenheimer, Erin Neumann and Madison Palmer. The men’s and women’s track teams were represented by Lane Boyer, Tara Diebold, Erin Gray, Sarah Landau, Angela Scott, Mitchell Scott, James Strang and Katie Stripling. The soccer Razorbacks are under the direction of first-year head coach Erin Aubry and placed four members on the Academic Champions list. They are Megan Fawley, Kat Moffett, Erin Moskos and Rachel Smith. The rest of the Academic Champions include: Jessica Bachkora, Hillary Freeman and Sandra Smith from softball, Scott Limbocker and James McCann from baseball, Lucy Nunn from women’s golf, Chase Philpot from football, Mackenzie Rhea from volleyball and Genny Salvatore from gymnastics. In addition to the 32 4.0s, Arkansas had 65 student-athletes who earned selection to the Athletic Directors list with 3.50-3.99 GPAs, and 93 who were on the Athletic Department Honor Roll in the 3.00-3.49 range. Jeff Poppell’s swimming and diving team again led the way on the AD’s List with 13 selections, followed by eight for soccer, seven for women’s track and field/cross country, six for men’s track and field/cross country and five for softball. For more information about Arkansas Razorback athletics log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com. Academic Champions — 4.00

Athletic Director’s List — 3.50-3.99

Athletic Departmental Honor Roll — 3.00-3.49