April 28, 2010
CHICAGO- UIC Athletics celebrated the academic achievements of its student-athletes on Tuesday, April 27 at the 2010 Night of Champions Banquet held inside the Student Services Building.
UIC student-athletes and teams were recognized for their success in the classroom and in the community during the event, which brought together athletes, coaches, parents, instructors and administration to applaud such hard work and accomplishments.
The women's gymnastics team was honored as UIC's Academic Team of the Year for its outstanding team GPA over the past three semesters.
Women's basketball center Kristin Petrinec earned UIC Female Athlete of the Year honors for the second consecutive campaign, while three student-athletes garnered UIC Male Athlete of the Year accolades: Alex Marginean of men's tennis, Rahul Signh of men's swimming and Erik Perez of men's track and field.
Prestigious scholarship awards, such as the Avery Brundage Scholarship, the Thomas Beckham Scholarship, the Colvin Communication Scholarship, the Don Nash Scholarship, the Port Academic Center Scholarship and the Aileen S. Andrew Scholarship, were presented to deserving UIC student-athletes, and the student-athlete with the highest grade point average on each team was honored.
Academic Athletic Honor Roll awards were also handed out, and special Horizon League awards were presented. The men's tennis team was named the Horizon League Men's Academic Team of the Year, while the women's cross country team garnered Horizon League Women's Academic Team of the Year.
A Horizon League service award was presented to head coach Michelle Venturella and the softball team for their dedication in the community and the classroom, and Dr. Sylvia Furner earned recognition from the league for her extensive work and support as a faculty athletic representative at UIC.
Last fall was one of the most successful academic semesters in UIC Athletics history. 44 percent of UIC's student-athletes earned a 3.0 GPA or better, including 30 student-athletes achieving a perfect 4.0 GPA. As a whole the department's 320-plus student-athletes combined for an overall GPA of 2.98 on a 4.0 scale.
2010 UIC ATHLETICS NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS AWARDS
Avery Brundage Scholarship:
Mateusz Rybarski (Men's Gymnastics)
Erin Duggan (Women's Gymnastics)
Laurel Heath (Women's Swimming & Diving)
Jacqueline Lang (Volleyball)
Horizon League Awards
Softball
Dr. Sylvia Furner
Horizon League Academic Teams
Men's Tennis
Women's Cross Country
Thomas Beckham Scholarship
Erik Perez (Men's Track & Field)
Mary Brennan (Women's Cross Country/Track & Field)
Colvin Communications Scholarship
John Rosinski (Baseball)
Don Nash Scholarship
Cassie Johnson (Women's Basketball)
Aileen S. Andrew Scholarship
Steven Mell (Men's Swimming)
Christine Girard (Women's Gymnastics)
Port Academic Center Scholarship
Erin Clark (Women's Track & Field)
Female Athlete of the Year
Kristin Petrinec (Women's Basketball)
Male Athlete of the Year
Alex Marginean (Men's Tennis)
Rahul Singh (Men's Swimming)
Erik Perez (Men's Track & Field)
Academic Team of the Year
Women's Gymnastics
