CLEVELAND, Ohio - Twenty-one student athletes from South Dakota School of Mines earned Academic Achievement Awards from the "Division 2 Athletics Directors Association" (D2ADA) for the 2011-12 academic school year. The Academic Achievement Awards is a program that recognizes the academic accomplishments of student-athletes at the Division 2 level.
The Hardrocker student-athletes that received this honor include: Madisen Lane (volleyball); Rachel Pekarek (volleyball); Brittney LaDue (volleyball); Jessie Guthals (volleyball); Carly Sandin (volleyball) Reanna Roberson (volleyball); Haley Dunn (track); Tyler Knack (track); Janelle Strampe (volleyball/basketball); Nate Jacobson (basketball); Tommy Smith (basketball); Heather Ritchey (basketball); Katie Standholm (basketball); Stephen Christensen (golf); Andy Smith (football); Seth Kijewski (football); Colen Kling (football); Ian Prichard (football); Josh Sherman (football); Erik Yeash (football); John Ziadat (football).
In order for a student-athlete to receive an Academic Achievement Award, the athletics director of the Division 2 institution must be a current dues paying member of the D2ADA; the student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale; must have attended a minimum of two years (four semesters) of college level work; and must have been an active member of an intercollegiate team during his/her last academic year.
"The quality of individual that participates as an NCAA D-II student-athlete at South Dakota School of Mines is clearly exhibited in the number of student-athletes that qualified for our first 'official' academic recognition as a NCAA D-II institution through NACDA and D2 ADA," said Hardrockers Athletics Director Dick Kaiser. "With the academic rigor at SDSM&T being so difficult, I am extremely proud of these outstanding juniors and seniors and the recognition they so richly deserved."
A record number of institutions (118) and student-athletes (4,492) are being recognized for the 2011-12 Academic Achievement Awards. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Association had 557 student-athletes honored, a record-high for the program, followed by the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) with 400 student-athletes being recognized and the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) with 398 student-athletes being acknowledged with this award.
"The D2ADA would like to thank and congratulate the institutions that took part in honoring the record-number of 4,492 student-athletes with 2011-12 Academic Achievement Awards," stated D2ADA President Anita Barker, director of athletics at Chico State University. "Recognizing and honoring deserving Division 2 student-athletes is a strategic goal of the D2ADA. This award gives us the platform to showcase these individuals and their efforts in the classroom, as well as on the playing field."