May 1, 2013
CHICAGO - UIC student-athletes, coaches and staff from all 20 sports congregated Tuesday night to celebrate the Flames' academic success at the annual "Night of Champions" Academic Banquet.
"The 2012-13 athletic year has been another great one for our student-athletes," said Athletic Director Jim Schmidt. "Our Athletic Department staff is extremely proud of our collective success in the classroom. I want to congratulate our student-athletes, and thank Sam Rush, Denny Wills, Shannon Norkus and the rest of the Academic Staff for their hard work both during the semester and in putting on a great event to celebrate our success in the classroom."
The women's tennis team, which picked up its 17th-consecutive Horizon League Championship last weekend in Indianapolis, was named the Academic Team of the Year. The Flames boasted a 3.45 cumulative grade-point-average during the 2012 Fall Semester.
The Flames' men's tennis team was recognized as the standout Male Academic Team after compiling a 3.38 cumulative GPA during the first semester. Four of UIC's men's tennis players collected flawless 4.0 GPA's during the term.
There was a three-way tie for the Male Athlete of the Year Award, with Cody Lee from the cross country and track & field team, Gautham Oroskar (men's tennis) and men's soccer's Piotr Lagowski all sharing the honor. All three student-athletes have 4.0 cumulative GPA's.
Six female student-athletes shared the Female Athlete of the Year award: Mariya Denisenko (women's track & field), Jacki Fletcher (softball), Emily Lawrence (women's gymnastics), Coryn Schmit (softball) and Kayla Stueland (women's golf). Lawrence and Schmit each won the award for the third-straight year, while Denisenko and Fletcher became repeat winners. All six student-athletes have flawless GPA's of 4.0.
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.
Lukasz Adamczyk from the men's gymnastics team earned the Avery Brundage Scholarship for the second-straight year, while Lee was the Thomas Beckham Scholarship recipient. Slobodan Aleksov from the men's soccer team earned the Colvin Communications Scholarship; women's gymnastics' Chantel Turk received the Don Nash Scholarship; Oroskar and Erica Hampton from the softball team shared the Aileen S. Andrew Scholarship, while men's soccer's Josh Beard and Emily Gniatczyk from the women's swimming team were each presented the Port Academic Center Scholarship.
Team-by-Team Academic Athletic Honor Roll Award Winners (2012-13)
Baseball
Joey Begel, 3.44 GPA
Men's Basketball
Anthony Kelley, 3.01 GPA
Women's Basketball
Katie Hanneman, 2.76 GPA
Men's Cross Country
Cody Lee, 4.0 GPA
Women's Cross Country
Tess Ehrhardt, 3.37 GPA
Men's Gymnastics
Lukasz Adamczyk, 4.0 GPA
Women's Gymnastics
Emily Lawrence, 4.0 GPA
Men's Soccer
Piotr Lagowski, 4.0 GPA
Softball
Jacki Fletcher, 4.0 GPA
Coryn Schmit, 4.0 GPA
Men's Swimming & Diving
Brian Sivak, 3.57 GPA
Women's Swimming & Diving
Melanie Waszak, 3.46 GPA
Men's Tennis
Gautham Oroskar, 4.0 GPA
Women's Tennis
Kathryn Sharples, 3.71 GPA
Men's Track & Field
Roy Mwale, 3.51 GPA (Finance)
Women's Track & Field
Mariya Denisenko, 4.0 GPA
Volleyball
Aubrey Sniegowski, 3.45 GPA
