Gymnastics: Nine Earn Academic Honor
July 20, 2010 04:15 PM | General
July 20, 2010
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| Stephanie Keaton |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Nine West Virginia University gymnasts were named Scholastic All-Americans for the 2009-10 academic year, as announced today by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W).
As a squad, the Mountaineers ranked No. 31 overall with a cumulative team grade point average (GPA) of 3.3528.
The nine honorees are the most for any WVU squad since a program-best 10 student-athletes were honored in 2007. In total, the Mountaineers have earned 77 honors in 36 years.
“I’m pleased to see so many of our student-athletes honored for their work in the classroom,” says 37-year coach Linda Burdette-Good. “This team is always very disciplined and exemplifies good time management. Earning accolades like these reinforce that our girls understand that their main priority lies in the classroom.”
Graduate Kiersten Spoerke (mechanical engineering) was one of 67 student-athletes to earn the honor with a 4.0 GPA. Spoerke, a 2010 ESPN the Magazine Academic all-District II women’s at-large second team honoree, earned four-straight NACGC/W distinctions; six Mountaineers have previously achieved the feat.
Graduate Shelly Purkat (human nutrition and foods) and senior Stephanie Keaton (fashion design and merchandise) each earned their third honor, while junior Jenn Sharon (child development and family studies) secured her second-straight award.
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| Hailey Fairchild |
Five Mountaineers earned their first NACGC/W Scholastic All-America award: seniors Amy Bieski (speech pathology and audiology) and Jessica Young (advertising), junior Tina Maloney (nursing), and sophomores Hailey Fairchild (pre-sport management) and Arlene Hathaway (pre-elementary education).
Scholastic All-America status is awarded as a result of GPAs of 3.5 or better for the year.
The NACGC/W is the national association for women’s collegiate gymnastics coaches. The association seeks to actively manage and develop the sport of women’s gymnastics at the collegiate level and works with the NCAA and USA Gymnastics in order to provide the best possible experience for student-athletes.
