FERRIS' JENNY IRWIN CHOSEN AS GLIAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Distance Runner lands Prestigious League Postseason Award

Senior runner Jenny Irwin (Scottville/Mason County Central) of the Ferris State University women's track and field/cross country team picked up yet another prestigious postseason award by being chosen as the 2005-06 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The announcement was made Monday (July 10) by the league office.

Ferris State's Jenny Irwin is this year's GLIAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Irwin joined male recipient, track and field/cross country student-athlete Adam Roach of Saginaw Valley State, as this year's honorees in voting conducted by the league's faculty-athletic representatives. Both Irwin and Roach will now be entered in the Division II Scholar Awards regional ballot co-sponsored by Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex (TM) and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association. The awards allow Division II to showcase the outstanding academic and athletic achievements of its student-athletes. To be nominated for consideration, a student-athlete must have a 3.0 cumulative grade point average and have demonstrated outstanding athletic talent.

Irwin wrapped up a stellar career recently by being chosen as an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America College Division Women's Track/Cross Country First-Team selection for the 2005-06 athletics season. She previously was honored as an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV First-Team pick. Irwin not only claimed Academic All-America honors this season, but completed a personal sweep with All-America honors in cross country, indoor track along with outdoor track during the 2005-06 campaign.

Irwin picked up outdoor All-America accolades in the final day of action (May 27) at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Emporia State's (Kan.) Zola Witten Track inside Fran Welch Stadium at Emporia, Kan. She took fourth place overall (4:38.11) in the 1,500 meters in her final collegiate race. Irwin also competed in the 800 meters at the national meet, but failed to advance to the final round of competition.

This year marked the second consecutive year Irwin picked up All-America honors in the 1,500 meters as she posted a fourth-place finish in the event (4:30.60) at the 2005 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships (May 26-28) held at Abilene Christian University's Elmer Gray Stadium in Abilene, Texas. This season also represented Irwin's third consecutive appearance in the NCAA-II Outdoor Championships following an 11th place overall showing in the 1,500 meters (4:40.73) as FSU's lone representative at the 2004 NCAA-II Outdoor Championships (May 27-29) held in Walnut, Calif.

Irwin picked up FSU cross country team Most Valuable Runner accolades in 2005-06 after earning All-America honors with a 20th-place finish in the 25th annual NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country National Championships held last fall (Nov. 19) in Pomona, Calif. Irwin completed the six-kilometer (K) race in a time of 22:11.7 to become the first female women's cross country All-American in Bulldog history. Her performance also represented the highest finish ever for a FSU women's performer at the Division II Women's Cross Country Championships. A four-year letterwinner, Irwin claimed first-team All-GLIAC honors for the third consecutive season during the fall 2005 campaign with a runner-up effort (22:57.6) at the 2005 GLIAC Championships (Oct. 22) in Marquette, Mich.

In addition, Irwin also received Ferris' Most Valuable Runner Award for the women's track and field middle distance/distance events this campaign. She claimed the GLIAC Most Valuable Running Event Athlete Award in the women's competition as she won two individual events and received one runner-up finish at the 2006 GLIAC Outdoor Championships (May 4-5) held at FSU's Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids, Mich. Irwin took the 800 meters as she clocked 2:11.44 in the final round and also emerged victorious in the 1,500 meters (4:39.93). She placed second in the 3,000 meters (10:08.63). During the 2005-06 indoor campaign, Irwin earned NCAA-II All-America laurels with a fourth-place overall finish (4:49.13) in the mile run at the NCAA-II Indoor Track and Field Championships (March 10-11) in Boston, Mass.

This season, Irwin also was awarded both the 20th annual FSU Helen Bennett Memorial Award and the school's annual Dean Davenport "Bulldog of the Year" Award for outstanding female student-athlete along with being recognized as a Ferris Scholar-Athlete Award recipient. The four-year letterwinner attained GLIAC All-Academic Team honors for the third consecutive year in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track this campaign. She concluded her FSU career with track records in six different events.