Kayla Hoffman Earns Bryant Student-Athlete Award
4/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
April 25, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama gymnast Kayla Hoffman continues to reap the benefits of a standout senior season.
Just days after being voted captain of the 2011 Southeastern Conference, NCAA Regional and NCAA Champion Alabama gymnastics team, Hoffman was named the female 2011 Paul W. Bryant Student-Athlete Award winner during Monday night's annual Alabama Athletics Awards Banquet.
"Kayla is the epitome of what we look for in a student-athlete, giving her very best as a gymnast, a student and as a positive force in the community," UA head coach Sarah Patterson said. "She selflessly led this team to the SEC, regional and national championships as a senior in a manner that is a testament to all the Bryant Student-Athlete Award stands for."
The Bryant Student-Athlete Award was created by the Tuscaloosa County Chapter of the University of Alabama Alumni Association in 1985 to bring public recognition to the outstanding achievements of Crimson Tide student-athletes in the classroom, in their athletic endeavors and in the community. Quarterback Greg McElroy was named the male Bryant Student-Athlete Award winner for the second year in a row.
Hoffman, a native of Union, N.J., clinched the Tide's fifth NCAA Championship earlier this month with a 9.95 on the floor exercise and was the NCAA runner-up in the all-around and balance beam on the way to earning All-American accolades in the all-around, vault and balance beam, finishing her career with five first-team honors.
She was named the 2011 SEC Gymnast of the Year and the SEC Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the first in league history to win both in the same season, after clinching Alabama's 2011 SEC title by winning the vault with a 9.95. The NCAA Central Region Gymnast of the Year, Hoffman won the all-around, vault, uneven bars and floor exercise at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Championships. She also earned an SEC Postgraduate Scholarship, is a three-time Scholastic All-American and carries a career 4.0 grade point average in human development and family studies.
Hoffman is the eighth UA gymnast to win the prestigious honor, joining Barbara Mack, who won the inaugural Bryant Student-Athlete award in 1985, Julie Estin (1986), Marie Robbins (1990), Katherine Kelleher (1992), Meredith Willard (1997), Kristin Sterner (2003) and Kassi Price (2009).
Players Mentioned
