April 20, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- More than 300 total awards were presented and Penn State student-athletes were honored Monday night at the 22nd SAAB Annual Academic Achievement Awards Banquet in the Bryce Jordan Center.
The awards total, for student-athletes with a 3.0 grade-point average or higher in 2007-08, was the third-highest since the event began in 1988.
The Nittany Lion field hockey team was presented with the team award for highest grade-point average during the 2007-08 academic year to highlight an outstanding year for Penn State student-athletes. The field hockey team, coached by Char Morett, earned its first highest team GPA award since the academic honors event began.
The event was held in conjunction with National Student-Athlete Day.
Sponsored by the Milton and Lois Morgan Academic Support Center for Student-Athletes and the Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB), 302 awards were presented to 235 student-athletes for their academic accomplishments in 2007-08. The total trailed only the 333 total awards from 2006-07 and 322 from 2003-04. The 235 honorees are fourth-highest overall.
Presentations also were made to 73 seniors who had a 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA through the Spring 2008 semester. That total is third-highest to the 88 seniors that were honored from 2003-04 and 78 recognized for 2006-07.
The members of Penn State¹s 29 varsity programs combined to earn an overall 3.09 grade point average in 2007-08. Eighteen teams earned a grade point average of 3.0 or better. The performance of Penn State's 14 women's programs was particularly notable, earning a combined 3.25 GPA during 2007-08. There are approximately 800 Penn State student-athletes on 29 varsity teams.
Penn State assistant men¹s gymnastics coach and 2008 U.S. Olympian Kevin Tan was the guest speaker at the awards dinner.
The Nittany Lion Club presented its True Grit Award to two student-athletes for overcoming adversities during their careers. The recipients were junior women¹s gymnast Allie Southard (Nanuet, N.Y.) and junior men¹s soccer player Jason Yeisley (Allentown).
The SAAB Award (Student-Athletes Above and Beyond) were presented for the second time. The recipients were women¹s soccer senior Allie Daus (Plano, Texas) and senior wrestler Jake Strayer (South Fork).
The Varsity "S" Awards are presented to the women's and men's teams with the highest team GPA. This year's recipients were the field hockey team and, for the second consecutive year, the men's tennis squad, coached by Todd Doebler.
The THON awards were presented to the student-athlete and team that raised the most donations for the Four Diamonds Fund and THON. The recipients were senior softball standout Danielle Kinley (Carlsbad, Calif.) and the women's lacrosse team, coached by Suzanne Isidor.
The CHAMPS Cup Awards for community outreach were presented for the fourth time, with winners selected for squads with 20 or fewer squad members (women's basketball for the fourth consecutive year) and squads with more than 20 squad members (football-offense for the second consecutive year).
Penn State¹s student-athletes, who have captured 17 Big Ten Championships during the past 3 1/2 years and six NCAA titles in the past two years, consistently have been among the nation¹s most successful in earning their degrees. Among some of the recent academic accomplishments are:
- A school record nine Nittany Lion student-athletes were selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® team during the 2008 Fall semester, including six first team honorees.
- A school record 261 Nittany Lion student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2007-08, eclipsing the previous record of 253. Penn State has 3,131 overall honorees during the past 14-plus years to lead all Big Ten institutions in academic all-conference recipients.
- The NCAA's annual study of institutions nationwide revealed in October 2008 that Penn State student-athletes at the University Park campus earned a record Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 89 percent compared to a 78 percent average for all Division I institutions for students entering from 1998-99 through 2001-02.
- According to the 2008 NCAA data, Penn State¹s 2001-02 entering freshman class earned a record 84 percent federal graduation rate among student-athletes, significantly above the 64 percent for all Division I institutions. The four-year federal graduation rate average for University Park student-athletes was 82 percent, again well above the national average of 63 percent, and second to Northwestern (88) in the Big Ten.
- African-American student-athletes at Penn State continue to graduate at much higher percentages than at other Division I institutions. Seventy-nine percent of African-American student-athletes that entered Penn State in 2001-02 graduated, highest among Big Ten Conference institutions and significantly above the national Division I average of 53 percent.
- Penn State¹s African-American student-athlete GSR was 80 percent, again significantly above the Division I national GSR average of 62 percent. Penn State was second only to Northwestern among Big Ten schools in the African-American four-year federal graduation rate and GSR.
- Of the Penn State student-athletes in the NCAA studies from 1992-93 through 2001-02 who exhausted their eligibility, 96 percent left with their diplomas.
- Twenty-four Penn State student-athletes were inducted into the Spiritus Leoninus honor society earlier this semester.