Fairfax, Va.-San Jose State student-athletes proved they can "make the grades" as nine were honored as 2011 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars, as selected by Diverse Issues in Higher Education and published on April 28.
Shanice Howard led all Spartans with her 3.99 grade-point average and was named the Top Overall Female Scholar. The kinesiology major competed on the vault and bars during her senior season and received second team all-conference honors on the vault.
Three Spartan teams had two student-athletes selected. In gymnastics, Howard was joined by Katie Valleau who competed at the NCAA Championships this season on the floor. Women's soccer found Lauren Ng-Pinkerton and Lauren Sanchez selected. This is the second consecutive honor for Ng-Pinkerton. Men's cross country found Alex Esparza and Alan Shelton named to the track and field team.
Others honored included Katrina Delen-Briones for women's golf, Kerry Jenkins for baseball and Omri Brinner for men's soccer.
These eight were selected from more than 650 nominated student-athletes from NCAA and NAIA schools. To be nominated, a student-athlete needed a 3.20 cumulative gpa, be in good standing, have community participation and be an ethnic or minority student.
San Jose State was the only school from the Western Athletic Conference to have any student-athletes honored. The school is the best-represented program in the CSU system and one of the best-represented athletics programs in the nation.
"The San Jose State University Student-Athlete Success Services staff is extremely proud of our nine Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars," said Associate Athletics Director Liz Jarnigan. "The fact that we have men and women from a variety of sports representing our university reflects the commitment to excellence demonstrated by our coaches, administrators and support staff. These student-athletes truly exemplify what it means to achieve in the classroom and beyond!