Missouri State
Thirteen members of the Missouri State women's swimming & diving team have been named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team, the league announced Thursday.
Sophomores Rebecca Amparano, Andi Burroughs, Emily Chesser, Olivia Gean, Dora Kiss, Ibby Simcox and Carly Wright, juniors Roni Balzam, Megan Holthoff and Alyssa Powers and seniors Lindsey Conway, Janke Engelbrecht and Renata Sandereach earned the distinction.
To be eligible for the recognition, student-athletes must have completed at least one year of athletic participation and maintain either a 3.2 grade-point average and have earned all-conference honors or have a 3.5 GPA and have finished in the top 16 of a championship event or have a 3.8 GPA and have participated in the MVC championships.
A total of 57 student-athletes earned the honor across the conference, led by the Bears' contingent.
Missouri State won its seventh consecutive MVC and 11th overall title on Feb. 15 in Carbondale, Ill.
Southern Illinois
Twelve Southern Illinois swimmers and divers earned a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete team, the conference announced Thursday. Shailey Brumley and Ella Ottoeach have maintained perfect 4.0 GPAs and are two of the three qualifiers in the conference with perfect GPAs.
"I'm very proud of our young ladies for all they go through in school and sport, but to excel in the classroom at this level is exceptional," head coach Rick Walker said. "It's a credit to our athletes and academic staff, along with the administration for their support and emphasis of excellence in the classroom."
The honor goes to Valley athletes that have have completed at least one year and maintain either a 3.2 grade-point average and obtain all-conference honors, achieve a 3.5 grade-point average and finish top-16 in an individual event at the conference championships, or maintain a 3.8 grade-point average and participate in the MVC championship. Of Southern's 20 eligible swimmers and divers, 12 qualified for the 57-member team.
The honor is the latest in a series of academic achievements for the swimming and diving program. Brumley earned the Valley's Elite 18 Award at the 2013 MVC Championship, which went to the A Finalist with the highest cumulative GPA. She was the first Saluki swimmer to earn the award.
Both the men's and women's programs earned Scholar All-America honors for holding cumulative team GPAs above 3.0.
SIU Athletes on MVC Scholar-Athlete Team - GPA
Shailey Brumley - 4.0
Ella Otto - 4.0
Holly Johnson - 3.86
Kiley Handley - 3.85
Pamela Benitez - 3.76
Esther Chen - 3.73
Morgan Timms - 3.65
Helena Amorim - 3.64
Kristy Hinkle - 3.62
Luisa Silveira - 3.53
Brittany Weigel - 3.52
Kaixuan Zhang - 3.51
