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Many
months after her locker had been cleaned and her track spikes
had been changed for the final time, former Ferris State University
student-athlete Morgan Buckner continued to reap impressive awards
from her distinguished Bulldog career.
Buckner was chosen among 10 national finalists
for the prestigious National Collegiate Athletic Association Woman
of the Year Award and named Michigan’s state recipient in
2002. The award honors outstanding female student-athletes who
have excelled in academics, athletics and community leadership
and have completed their intercollegiate athletics eligibility.
Although only a single example, Buckner is evidence
of the fact that the success of Ferris’ student-athletes
doesn’t rest solely on their athletic merits.
During the 2002-03 athletics season, Ferris
had 85 academic all-conference athletes to complement 50 all-league
performers and 10 All-Americans. The University also recorded
a 3.05 cumulative student-athlete grade point average.
In the past two years, nine Ferris student-athletes
have been recognized as Verizon Academic All-District selections
and three have attained Verizon Academic All-America status.
“We believe strongly in the term student-athlete
with student being the main focus,” says Athletics Director
Tom Kirinovic. “I’m extremely proud of the academic
success our student-athletes have achieved. In addition, they’ve
experienced good athletic success as well.”
The Bulldogs have reaped numerous academic awards
in the recent past. Ferris’ women’s basketball team
has ranked among the nation’s top 25 squads in the Women’s
Basketball Coaches Association Division II Academic Top 25 Team
Honor Roll list for three consecutive seasons while the Ferris
softball team has placed among the top 10 National Fastpitch Coaches
Association’s NCAA-II All-Academic programs two-straight
years. The Bulldog women’s cross country squad has earned
NCAA Division II Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic
Team laurels five consecutive seasons while the men’s team
has claimed the same kudos the past three campaigns.
In 2001, the USA Today-NCAA Foundation Academic
Achievement Awards recognized Ferris as one of the top NCAA Division
II programs to have a student-athlete graduation rate above the
student-body average from the 1994-2000 period. Ferris State tied
for 10th place with Lenoir-Rhyne College (N.C.) as each institution
registered a 34 percent rate higher than the institution’s
total. National recognition was based on general student body
and student-athlete data as provided by collegiate institutions
and compiled through the U.S. Department of Education and the
NCAA.
“Our eligibility requirements are strong,
and our graduation rates reflect that fact,” says Carma
Burcham, Ferris State’s coordinator of records and NCAA
eligibility. “We perform well in comparison to many of the
other schools. Some of those institutions are catching up, but
we’ve been doing this for many years.”
In the NCAA’s 2002 graduation rates report,
62-percent of Ferris’ student-athletes graduated compared
to only 50-percent of the overall NCAA Division II public institution
average. Private schools at the NCAA-II level netted a
graduation rate of 51 percent in the study, which included freshman
scholarship athletes who began their collegiate careers in 1995-96.
Ferris State’s student-athletes finished 27 percentage points
higher than the institution’s overall student-body average
in the comparison.
“From an academic standpoint, our student-athletes
don’t have to take a back seat to anybody,” Kirinovic
says proudly. “We place a lot of emphasis on teaching both
in the classroom and on the field.”
Along with the academic success, Ferris has
also performed admirably on the field. For six consecutive seasons,
the Bulldogs have placed among the Great Lakes Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference’s top five schools in the annual President’s
Cup race, which recognizes all 12 league institutions for their
overall combined performance. Six teams participated in NCAA tournament
competition during the 2002-03 season, highlighted by the hockey
team’s impressive march to its first Central Collegiate
Hockey Association championship and a school-record 31 victories.
“Our coaching staff is not tolerant of
a student-athlete who’s not giving it all both in the classroom
and on the field,” Burcham says. “If the athlete is
a good person who’s willing to work, they’ll work
with him or her and give that person a chance to both compete
and get a degree. Athletes can’t ask for anything more.”
The coaches also have received well-deserved
recognition for their efforts. In 2002-03, Ferris had four coaches
claim conference coach of the year accolades including Tia Brandel-Wilhelm
(volleyball), Brad Bedortha (women’s golf), Bob Daniels
(hockey) and Keri Becker (softball). Becker earned praise from
her peers despite not actively coaching last spring due to military
duty. A sergeant in the United States Army Reserve, Becker was
called to active duty during the war with Iraq.
Daniels was selected the winner of the 2003
Spencer Penrose Award as the American Hockey Coaches Association’s
Division I Hockey Coach of the Year after guiding the Bulldogs
to the program’s initial NCAA Division I Championship Tournament
appearance.
“Our staff values education and the teaching
aspect of intercollegiate athletics,” Kirinovic says. “The
kids realize how much they value it and are able to use that to
maximize their talents.”
Ferris’ student-athletes are also able
to utilize a wide range of resources within the campus community,
such as academic advising, counseling and tutorial services. Those
integral keys contribute to the department’s success.
“If someone doesn’t make it at Ferris,
it’s not because they haven’t been offered every single
service possible,” notes Burcham. “Sometimes an athlete
might not be ready for school, but typically the coaches are aware
of who they’re recruiting and what type of representation
they will have on the University.”
A four-year varsity letterwinner in women’s
volleyball and track, Buckner finished her Ferris experience with
two degrees in applied Speech Communication and Recreation Leadership
Management. The two-time President’s Academic Award recipient
also volunteered for a wide variety of community service organizations
and held numerous campus leadership positions, which enabled her
to contend for one of the highest awards the NCAA bestows at any
level.
“From an academic standout, our student-athletes
have been able to accomplish as much as any other school within
the conference,” says Kirinovic. “They continually
show improvement both in learning the skills of their sport to
their experience in the classroom.
“Their success is a testament to the hard
work put forth by both themselves and the entire staff.”
By
Rob Bentley
This
Just In - Ferris’ 2002-03 women’s basketball
squad tied for having the nation’s second-highest cumulative
grade point average in the Women’s Basketball Coaches
Association Division II Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll list.
The Bulldogs, who placed among the top 25 teams for the fourth
consecutive season under head coach Tracey Fisk, compiled
a 3.604 grade point average in 2002-03, sharing runner-up
kudos with Dowling (N.Y.). Leading the nation was Nebraska-Kearney
with a 3.723 team GPA.
Seven Bulldog players were honored individually
as GLIAC Women’s Basketball All-Academic Team selections:
junior forward Stephanie Benear, junior guard Lucy DeMartin,
sophomore forward Sarah Duesing, junior center Bridget Horwitz,
senior forward Patti Larson, sophomore forward Molly Potvin
and sophomore guard Kari Searles. DeMartin also attained first-team
honors from the Verizon Academic All-District IV College Division
and Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Athletic-Academic
Honor Team. |
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