The KCAC has announced the recipients of the 2009-10 Women's Basketball KCAC Champion of Character Awards. The KCAC Champion of Character Award recognizes continuing student-athletes who have participated in intercollegiate athletics for a minimum of one full academic year. Recipients need to have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or higher and have demonstrated the Champion of Character core vales of Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Sportsmanship, and Servant Leadership.
Criteria for being selected for the All-KCAC COC Award:
- Identified as a full-time student in good standing
- Be currently participating in a varsity intercollegiate program
- One full academic year of full-time status and participation in the varsity intercollegiate sport program
- Cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher
- Students may be nominated and receive the COC Award up to 3 times during their career, provided the above criteria are met
- Student Athletes are nominated by their head coaches
This year’s Champions of Character Award recipient for the University of Saint Mary was; Michelle Chrisman, a sophomore from Linwood, Kansas. Head Coach Michael Basler had this to say about Chrisman; “This award is one of the highest honors you can receive as a student-athlete from the KCAC. There is no one in our program more deserving of this honor than Michelle. I think in all aspects that the KCAC looks at with this award she excels at in her life daily. We are all very proud of her and are blessed to have her in our program.”
NAIA Honors USM Spires Women’s Basketball Player for Academic and Athletic Performance
(Leavenworth, Kan.)—University of Saint Mary junior Lauren Ceccucci was named a 2009-2010 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for her efforts both with the Lady Spires basketball team and in the classroom.
Ceccucci, a guard out of Flower Mound, Texas, was one of only 177 NAIA Division II women’s hoopsters selected for the honor nationwide. To be considered, nominees must be in at least their junior year academically and maintain a GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.
"We are extremely proud of Lauren and her recent selection to the NAIA Division II Scholar Athlete Team for 2009-2010,” said Mike Basler, USM’s head women’s basketball coach. “Lauren has worked hard to achieve at this level and her efforts over the past three years have paid off. Our basketball program takes great pride in achieving excellence both on the court and in the classroom.”
Ceccucci is the ninth Lady Spire named a NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete over the past five years. She has been a member of two of the program’s three NAIA Division II Scholar Teams.
Saint Mary has eight varsity sports: football, volleyball, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s basketball, and men’s and women’s soccer. Go to www.gospires.com for more information on USM Spires athletics.
USM Women’s Basketball Named NAIA Scholar Team for Third Consecutive Season
The University of Saint Mary Women’s Basketball Team was one of three USM sports squads tapped as a 2008-2009 Scholar Team by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The distinction marks the third consecutive year the Lady Spires have won the honor.
To be eligible for the award, the team’s aggregate GPA must be at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
“With this team, I was lucky to have an entire senior class named Academic All-Americans,” said Women’s Basketball Coach Mike Basler. “They’re great students, and even better people.”
The USM Women’s Soccer and Softball teams also won the Scholar Team honor for the past academic year.
“As always, we are proud of our athletes, and we are most proud of the three teams that have been honored,” said USM President Sister Diane Steele. “These awards emphasize that while our athletes excel on the field of play, they are students first. And they excel in the classroom.”
For the 2008-2009 academic year, 837 teams nationally earned the NAIA honor. |
Lady Spires Guard Shelby Watson led the team with 16 points. She also pulled down five rebounds, made three assists, and blocked two shots. It was also the first win against Sterling for USM Head Women's Basketball Coach Mike Basler.
