Fidelity Investments Scholar-Athlete Banquet Photo Gallery
April 27, 2010
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The future leaders of America and hopefully the state of New Mexico gathered Monday night at the University of New Mexico Student Union Building to strut their academic stuff and score a few awards.
It was an event as important as any athletic contest the Lobos might perform during the 2009-10 season, but it was an event witnessed mostly by their peers, their coaches and their support groups at UNM.
It’s too bad that a couple of thousand screaming Lobo fans didn’t witness the 2010 Scholar-Athlete Banquet sponsored by Fidelity Investments. This is really a side of Lobos that all UNM fans need to see and need to embrace.
But if there is anyone who truly understands what it takes to be a student-athlete it is other Lobos.
“This is a special time and a special event for the athletic department,” said Tim Cass, UNM’s Senior Associate Athletics Director to Paul Krebs. “I was a student-athlete and a Lobo coach and I know how difficult it is to achieve at this level while being so dedicated to a sport.
“This is a great reminder to everyone that Lobos are truly student-athletes and great representatives of the University of New Mexico and our community. These young men and young women have their priorities in line. It’s a wonderful accomplishment for them to achieve at this level academically.”
If UNM continues to produce so many Lobo scholars it’s possible the next Fidelity banquet will have to be held in the new-look Pit. The UNM SUB was jammed with highly accomplished Lobo student-athletes, who managed to do their thing on the field of competition while managing a 3.2 or higher GPA in the classroom.
Academic events don’t usually have stars like a game of football, softball or soccer. But there was one Lobo who kind of stole the show Monday night: Simon Ejdemyr of the Lobo men’s soccer team.
Ejdemyr, who earned a $7,500 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, was recognized for being named the ESPN Academic All-American of The Year in men’s soccer. He also was named The Lobo Club Male Athlete of The Year and was awarded a $1,000 fifth-year scholarship by Fidelity.
Skier Polina Ermoshina was The Lobo Club Female Athlete of The Year and Erin Brandow of the softball team was awarded Fidelity’s female $1,000 fifth-year scholarship. Ejdemyr and Veronika Strnadova of women’s soccer were honored as 4.0 graduating seniors.
The Lobo Club Athlete of The Year awards includes community service as well as academic excellence.
The Athletic Director’s Cup for the highest team GPA went to the men’s ski team. The Athletic Council Most Improved Award (GPA jump from 2009 to 2010) went to UNM’s track & field program.
The 2010 Fidelity Investments All-Academic team also was recognized. This team honors the individual who obtains the highest GPA on his or her team: Jason Oatman (baseball), Roman Martinez (men’s basketball), Lauren Taylor (women’s basketball), Jason Petty (men’s cross country), Erin Weeda (women’s cross country), Cody Neely (football), Travis Ross (men’s golf), Rebecca Hellbom (women’s golf), Tor-Hakon Hellebostad (men’s ski), Jacqueline Hangl (women’s ski), Simon Ejdemyr (men’s soccer), Jael Fanning (women’s soccer), Katie Gilmore (softball), Maria Dudley (swimming & diving), Ben Dunbar (men’s tennis), Manumea Durie (women’s tennis), Chad Clark (men’s track), Amber Menke (women’s track) and Kelly Williamson (volleyball).
“It’s a special opportunity to get everyone together to celebrate a moment like this,” said Henry Villegas, a UNM assistant AD in charge of academic services. “The academic achievements of our athletes are so important to the university. It’s expected for them to excel as athletes and then they take it another step by excelling as students.
“The academic achievement from these athletes is a tribute to them, but it’s also a tribute to our professors, to the support system provided to these athletes and to our administrators and leaders.”
In academics, as in athletics, there is a scorecard and data that even creates gaps in scholars. It’s a grade-point average (GPA). Here are the Lobos who were honored Monday for a 3.2 GPA or higher:
Baseball: Alex Allbritton, Eric Baalman, Brett Doe, Mitchell Garver, Zak Miller, Jason Oatman, Richard Olson, John Michael Twichell, Cody Voelker, Ben Woodchick.
Men’s Basketball: Roman Martinez, Kevin Nelson.
Women’s Basketball: Amy Beggin, Amanda Best, Caroline Durbin, Jessica Kielpinski, Nikki Nelson, Chinyere Nnaji, Emily Stark, Lauren Taylor, Jordan Unverzagt.
Men’s Cross Country: Chris Barnicle, David Bishop, Lee Emanuel, Rory Fraser, Brock Hagerman, Jason Petty, Allen Pittman, Connor Schneider, Alex Willis.
Women’s Cross County: Nicky Archer, Carolyn Boosey, Laura Bowerman, Alex Darling, Ashley Gibson, Sarah Higgens, Delyth James, Laura Lavezo, Bianca Martin, Janna Mitsos, Lacey Oeding, Emma Reed, Ruth Senior, Ashlee Smalley, Erin Weeda, Shawna Winnegar.
Football: Chris Biren, Brian Hill, Evan Jacobsen, Victor James, Daniel Mena, Spencer Merritt, Brendan Murphy, Cody Neely, Thomas Rodriguez, Gordon Rowe, Joshua Taufalele, Adam Watson, Mica Williams
Men’s Golf: John Catlin, Samuel Chavez, Ryan Gay, James Gehrke, Nick Geyer, Shane McDonald, Travis Ross, Ryan Smith, Alex Zannes
Women’s Golf: Beth Buchner, Jodi Ewart, Rebecca Hellbom, Jordan Kennon, Erin Miller, Sarah Salvo.
Men’s Skiing: Petter Brenna, Tor-Hakon Hellebostad, Martin Kaas, Olivier Lacaille, Simon Reissmann, Thomas Schwab.
Women’s Skiing: Anne Cecilie Brusletto, Stefanie Demetz, Polina Ermoshina, Jacqueline Hangl, Malin Hemmingsson, Ingrid Leask, Estelle Pecherand-Charmet, Kate Williams.
Men’s Soccer: Johan Bergstrom, Brendon Boucaud, Simon Ejdemyr, Andrew Parsons, Victor Rodriguez, Levi Rossi, Lance Rozeboom, Masashi Shibuya, Blake Smith, Kyle Venter.
Women’s Soccer: Megan Bodenheimer, Megan Carpenter, Amanda Collins, Kelli Cornell, Jordan Craig, Ashley Espinoza, Jael Fanning, Sinead Fleming, Chandler Guetz, Lauren Irwin, Natalie Jenks, Elizabeth Lambert, Shelbie Luna, Roxie McFarland, Katie McKernan, Rachel Montoya, Channing Perea, Jess Quador, Stephanie Rowe, Kerrin Stephan, Veronika Strnadova, Zaneta Wyne, Kate Wyrick.
Softball: Erin Brandow, Shenise Cox, Katie Gilmore, Kerry Hodgins, Cassandra Kalapsa, Jessica Lujan-Dresslar.
Swimming & Diving: Brittany Anderson, Sally Bellinger, Jocelyn Colella, Stephanie DeLang, Maria Dudley, Tonya Gramstad, Alyssa Keill, Alexandra Lusk, Tesse Maciejko, Hayley Martin, Lindsey Morris, Bridget O’Hara, Jennifer Patterson, Nicole Peirce, Erica Stuart, Nanette Wittenberg,
Men’s Tennis: Conor Berg, Evan Corona-Saunders, Jadon Phillips.
Women’s Tennis: Ashley Bonner, Eliane Bourdages, Manumea Durie, Kristin Eggleston, Michaela Oldani, Laura Richardson, Amy Shipperd.
Men’s Track & Field: Gabe Aragon, Chad Clark, Raffi Cote, Chris Dodds, Matthew Henry-Marshall, Alex Kitterman, Jeremy Lee, Zach Smith, Kendall Spencer, Douglas Torres, Thomas Trujillo, Kyle Walker.
Women’s Track & Field: Julia Cook, Michelle Corrigan, Charity Gillespie, Lauren Jaramillo, Rachel Kelchner, Sara Lee, Amber Menke, Christine Ostler, Briana Paxton, Asal Salehpoor, Marin Schweigert, Deanna Young.
Volleyball: Rachel Barber, Lisa Meeter, Jade Michaelsen, Rose Morris, Jackie Rodriguez, Jordan Russell, Allie Suiter, Carli Torr, Kelly Williamson, Amy Wong
Spirit Squad: Lexi Artrip, Brisa Barraza, Jason Davenport, Merissa Ekman, Jessie Junker, Amber Lazo, Carin Malm, Lindsey Oliver, Davina Padilla, Cameron Pittman, Katie Rosengren, John Sweeney, Madison Vickers.