Denim Millward
Sports Editor
At every level, and in every sport, the world of collegiate athletics can be ruthless, cutthroat and unforgiving.
From the moment a student athlete arrives on campus to the day they lay their hearts on the line in top-level competition for the final time, the importance of winning is lectured, harped on and otherwise pounded into every collegiate athlete’s head on a daily basis.
Coaches, teammates, fellow students, boosters, fans and administrators all have lofty and often unrealistic expectations of success, usually coupled with a singular focus on winning.
The highly competitive and unforgiving nature of collegiate athletics cultivates an environment where academic success is knocked several rungs down the priority ladder.
Too often, the athletic administration and coaching staff will bend, circumvent or blatantly break academic regulations to ensure a highly valuable member of an athletic team remains eligible, ignoring the student’s academic struggles and neglecting to remedy the underlying cause of these struggles in favor of chasing the almighty W.
No matter what level of success a collegiate athletic program attains, the spoils that come with this success will eventually fade. Even for schools that recruit well every year, the cyclical nature of collegiate sports ensures every program will have peaks and valleys.
For the vast majority of college athletes, the benefits of a successful college career do not translate into a secure, lucrative career related to the sport. In short, how many wins you got as a member of your college football team won’t make much difference at all once your time in college comes to a close.
Conversely, high academic achievement has invaluable life-long benefits.
Earning a degree and excelling in classes are arguably the biggest factors in getting a good job and making a lucrative livelihood . Of course, what kind of job an athlete gets or how much money they make doesn’t really benefit their respective colleges, a key factor in the overlooking of academic achievement in favor of athletic success for many programs.
Speaking as a rabid sports fanatic and a student who often disagrees with the decisions of his university, I can honestly say I’ve never been prouder of or more impressed with Idaho State University than I was after learning that an impressive 52 Bengal athletes earned Big Sky all-academic honors for the Fall 2013 semester. What’s more impressive is that this was actually a decrease from the 53 athletes who garnered academic honors last year.
The numbers continue to impress. For the Fall 2013 semester, 63 percent of student athletes had a 3.0 GPA or higher. 40 athletes finished with a 3.75 GPA or higher, and 29 student athletes scored a perfect 4.0 GPA.
The ISU football team featured the most athletes earning academic honors with 20, a number that exemplifies the strong emphasis on academics ISU head football coach Mike Kramer repeatedly mentioned in press conferences throughout the season.
For a sport in which the competitors are often stereotyped as “jocks” and “meatheads” not exactly known for excellence in the classroom, the feat is especially impressive.
The women’s soccer team featured 14 all-academic team members, while women’s volleyball had seven.
The women’s cross country team had 6 all-academic team members, and the men’s team had five.
A complete list of athletes earning honors is listed at the end of this article.
The tremendous academic achievement of ISU student athletes, something that is still a relatively new thing for Idaho State, cannot be celebrated enough.
Most critics fixate on the poor athletic record and lack of any recent conference championships, save a few regularly successful programs, while the academic excellence sadly goes unheralded, if not completely unnoticed.
For what it’s worth, I want to recognize all the Idaho State University student athletes who succeeded in the classroom as well as on the field and on the court.
While the accolades and acclaim that come with a successful sports season may seem more desirable in the short-term, the long-term benefits of excelling academically will continue to behoove student athletes long after the thrill of victory has faded from public memory.
Idaho State University Big Sky All-Academic Honorees:
Football
Justin Arias, Jr. Master’s Athletic Administration
Luke Austin, Sr. Business Management
Mitch Beckstead, Jr. Exercise Science
Michael Berger, Jr. Secondary Education-History
Christian Diehm, So. Secondary Education
Chris Edwards, So. Exercise Science
David Forester, So. Business Management
Brendon Garcia, Sr. Radiographic Science
Austin Graves, Jr. Philosophy
Chad Hansen, Fr. Business
Kurt Karstetter, So. Business-Accounting
Keelan McCaffery, Jr. Exercise Science
Jake Pele, Sr. Sociology
Aaron Prier, Jr. Business-Finance
Taylor Ragan, So. Sport Management
C.J. Reyes, Jr. Sociology
Cody Sorensen, So. Mechanical Engineering
Trevor Spence, Sr. Exercise Science
Hayden Stout, So. Sport Management
Tyler Wright, So. Sport Management
Volleyball
Alydia Fields-Grimm, Jr. Business Management
Whitney Harrington, Jr. Elementary Education
Tressa Lyman, So. Elementary Education
Lori Mendenhall-Lee, Sr. Psychology
Sommer Reeder, So. Undeclared
Kylee Sessions, Jr. Sociology
Marissa Todd, Fr. Undeclared
Men’s Cross Country
Tucker Boyd, Fr. Undeclared
Ty James, Fr. Undeclared
Andrew Kaler, Fr. Undeclared
Ray Miller, So. Sport Management
Dylan Refaey, Fr. Earth and Environmental Systems
Women’s Cross Country
Carly Hansen, Fr. Undeclared
Ann Jensen, Fr. Undeclared
Sasha Kent, Jr. Nursing
Angela McGraw, Fr. Undeclared
Katie Nicholls, Jr. Exercise Science
Korbin Traughber, Fr. Undeclared
Women’s Soccer
Laura Benson, Sr. Outdoor Education
Lauren Bermudez, So. Nursing
Tara Bice, Sr. International Studies
Vanessa Cabilan, So. Psychology
Mikaela Carrillo, Jr. Dietetics
Amanda Ellsworth, Jr. Electrical Engineering
Madeline Gochnour, Jr. Dietetics
Lia Margolis, Sr. Nursing
Taylor McBride, Jr. Nursing
Ka’imi Morreira, So. Undeclared
Katherine Roberts, Fr. Undeclared
Jessica Sanchez, Fr. Undeclared
Allyson Stainbrook, Sr. Exercise Science
Lanie Ward, Sr. Accounting
