Rowing Places Three on Conference USA All-Academic Team
5/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Rowing
IRVING, Texas - For the second year in a row, the Alabama rowing team leads the Conference USA All-Academic Team, as voted on by the league's sports information directors, with three selections on the 15-member team. Kansas and Oklahoma also had three members on the team.
Six student-athletes, including the Alabama trio of senior Jessica Allaway, senior Alissa Kranz and junior Stephanie Varner, were unanimous selections to the All-Academic squad. The Crimson Tide now has four unanimous selections, with 2010 senior Katherine Spohr earning the honor last year. Stacey Ogle and Bailey Sanders, both seniors last season, were also members of the inaugural squad.
"Those three (Allaway, Kranz and Varner) have been a big part of our success this spring; what we've been able to accomplish in competition and in the classroom," UA head coach Larry Davis said. "They've helped us win the Cal Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic and sweep the Open Varsity events at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships."
This marks the second year in a row that the Tide has placed three athletes on the list. Alabama leads C-USA with the most members in the award's two-year history, totaling six different student-athletes.
"This shows that we're able to enjoy success in the areas that we really want to emphasize," David said. "They're not only great competitors but great students as well. It's always rewarding to see the ladies shine in all aspects of university life and we're very proud of them."
The all-academic team consists of student-athletes who have earned a 3.2 cumulative grade point average or better and are a key contributor to their team. This year's squad each compiled a GPA of 3.7 or better, with three members maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA. All 15 were also named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll.
Allaway and Kranz helped lead the Tide's 1st Varsity 8+ to the first C-USA Boat of the Week honor following a Cal Cup victory at the 2011 San Diego Crew Classic. Varner participated in seven races for Alabama's Varsity Four, while earning President's List honors and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering's 2011 Fred R. Maxwell Award.
The Tide's rowing program, along with fellow Southeastern Conference program Tennessee as well as Big 12 schools Texas, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma, joined Conference USA as an affiliate member last season. The six affiliates join member schools SMU, Tulsa and Central Florida to compete under the Conference USA banner.
2011 C-USA Rowing All-Academic Team
| Student-Athlete | School | Year | GPA | Major |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jessica Allaway | Alabama | Senior | 3.76 | Biology |
| Alissa Kranz | Alabama | Senior | 3.91 | Marketing |
| Stephanie Varner | Alabama | Junior | 4.00 | Marketing |
| Melanie Luthi | Kansas | Junior | 3.91 | Mechanical Engineering & Business |
| Nicole Schneider | Kansas | Senior | 3.94 | Civil Engineering |
| Lauren Pollmiller | Kansas | Senior | 3.81 | Accounting |
| Whitley Jackson | Kansas State | Senior | 3.93 | Biology, Spanish & Gerontology |
| Amanda Weishaar | Kansas State | Junior | 4.00 | Mass Communications |
| Nicole Furmanek | Oklahoma | Junior | 3.96 | Elementary Education |
| Brooke Sheppard | Oklahoma | Senior | 3.86 | Human Resource Management |
| Kelsey Witten | Oklahoma | Graduate | 4.00 | Master's in Adult & Higher Education |
| Lauren Hadaway | SMU | Senior | 3.89 | Cinema Television (Minor: Business Admin. & Marketing) |
| Erika Johnson | Tennessee | Sophomore | 3.89 | Biochemistry, Cellular & Molecular Biology |
| Chelsea Burns | Texas | Sophomore | 3.70 | Education |
| Chelsey Lauzon | UCF | Junior | 3.93 | Elementary Education |
Players Mentioned
