July 12, 2010
Ogden, UT --- Idaho State University placed 36 spring sport student-athletes on the Big Sky All-Academic teams for the 2010 spring season, giving the Bengals 105 honorees for the year. The total marked the fourth consecutive year that ISU has broken the century mark, and the 36 spring honorees is the most for ISU since 2001.
The track programs for ISU led the way, with 14 men and 13 women earning the nod, including Michael Tucker, who was ISU's Big Sky Scholar-Athlete Award winner as well. Among the women's track team members was Cassie Merkeley, who earned All-America honors by finishing eighth in the heptathlon at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Rounding out the honorees for Idaho State were two from women's tennis, three from men's tennis, and four from women's golf.
The 36 spring honorees is the most for Idaho State since 37 were so honored back in the spring of 2001, but that was before a rule change in how the all-academic teams were configured that made it subsequently more difficult to earn the honor, a change that took effect in 2002-03.
For the Bengals, the 105 ties with the 2007-08 season for the second-best year in terms of the number of total Big Sky All-Academic selections. The 2006-07 season saw ISU get 108. This past year marked the fourth consecutive year that ISU has broken the century mark in terms of the total number of honorees, and only Montana, Eastern Washington, and Weber State have longer current streaks.
"Academically this has been an excellent year for our student-athletes, and to have over 100 Big Sky All-Academic honorees for a fourth straight year is a source of tremendous pride," said Director of Athletics Jeff Tingey. "Thirteen of our 15 sports had grade point averages above a 3.0, and the other two sports were right there, so I'm very proud of the work our student-athletes have put in this year."
To earn Big Sky All-Academic, a student-athlete must have participated in at least half of the team's competitions, he/she must have a 3.2 average (on a 4.0 scale) cumulative GPA at the conclusion of the most recently completed term, and they must have completed at least one academic term at the current Big Sky institution.
Men's Tennis (3)
Name Class Major
Nate Gross Freshman Undecided A&S
Francisco Royo Senior Civil Engineering
Dakota Pate Sophomore Marketing
Women's Tennis (2)
Name Class Major
Madison Snevily Senior General Studies
Therese Karlsson Junior International Studies
Women's Golf (4)
Name Class Major
Katie Phillips Senior Physical Education
Kylie Smith Junior Civil Engineering
Julia DiGiallonardo Freshman Sign Language
Sadie Venn Junior History
Men's Outdoor Track and Field (14)
Name Class Major
Ryan Davis Junior Management
Jon Dalley Sophmore Chemistry
Trevor White Junior Civil Engineering
Sam Pierson Senior Nursing
Cody Jenkins Freshman Nursing
Eric Strand Junior Secondary Education
Michael Tucker Senior Spanish
Michael O'Farrell Freshman Chemistry
Sam Corbett Freshman Mass Communications
Andrew Lish Freshman Pre-Pharmacy
Matthew O'Farrell Freshman Chemistry
John Ricardi Senior Civil Engineering
Michael Standley Freshman History
Tyson Gunter Junior Management
Women's Outdoor Track and Field (13)
Name Class Major
Sasha Buylova Senior International Studies
Chloe Palakovich Freshman Nutritional Sciences
Erica Wendt-Richardson Junior Secondary Education
Kris Thomasburg Junior Pre-EMTP
Bradi Hutchinson Sophomore Undecided Arts & Sci.
Nicole Anderson Senior HU Exception
Kylee Gleason Junior Nutritional Sciences
Cassie Merkley Senior Secondary Education
Kerynn Davis Junior English
Carrie Talbot Senior Mathematics
Amanda Vink-Johnston Freshman Biology
Tiera Weaver Freshman Undecided
Hailey Hathhorn Freshman Undecided
