Nov. 5, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
The "Big Time" is right here at Illinois State and that was evident after Sunday night's 2006 State Farm Student-Athlete Academic Excellence Banquet. The annual banquet honored hundreds of Redbird student-athletes for their academic success, recognized several special award nominees and recipients and featured keynote speaker Frosty Westering, who addressed the crowd about how to "Make the Big Time Where You Are."
The highest academic honor bestowed upon a male and female student-athlete, winners of the Doug Collins Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Linda Herman Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year were announced. Additionally, three other awards, introduced in 2004, the Impact, Phoenix and Good Neighbor Awards, were bestowed upon influential Redbird student-athletes.
Westering, a former college football coach at Pacific Lutheran, where he finished his coaching career with 305 victories and a winning percentage of .761, winning four national college division championships and three national coach of the year awards, knows plenty about the "Big Time".
"Most people think that the "Big Time" is a place," said Westering while addressing the audience. "But it's not a place at all. The "Big Time" is a state of your heart. It all depends on your attitude and the decisions you make. The big time is right here at Illinois State."
The 2006 recipient of the Doug Collins Male Scholar-Athlete of the year was current Illinois State men's golfer Ryan Brown. Brown is the second recipient of the award after former football standout Stephen Carroll received the honor last year.
The current L. Durwood Boone Endowed Scholarship recipient, Brown was named a Bone Scholar during the 2004-05 academic year, which is the highest academic scholarship on ISU's campus. Brown has been an active member of the university community, and was named President of the ISU Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) for the 2005-06 school year. He has been a member of the AFNI Athletics Honor Roll every semester, while also serving the Missouri Valley Conference as the SAAC representative to the NCAA in 2006-07. He received the Valley President's Council Academic Excellence Award in 2006, the highest recognition for academic achievement awarded from the league. Brown is currently working towards a masters degree in Business Administration.
On the course, Brown paced the 'Birds in 2004-05, tying for 16th place in the D. A. Weibring Intercollegiate, shooting a three-round total of 224. In the summer of 2006, Brown took home medalist honors in the college division of the fifth annual Country Youth Classic at the ISU Golf Course. In 2004, Brown was selected as a Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete.
Volleyball standout Jessie Janik was named the second recipient of the Linda Herman Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. Herman was present to award the accolade named in her honor to Janik.
The Lemont, Ill., native was the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Linda Herman Endowment (2006), and received the 2003 Kelly Meisner Courage Award. An AFNI Athletics Honor roll member in seven consecutive semesters, Janik was also the leader of the 2006 ISU Preview Guides, welcoming incoming freshmen to campus each fall. Janik will complete her undergraduate education at Illinois State in May, 2007, with a double major in food, nutrition and dietetics and public relations.
The fifth-year senior co-captain has tallied career-highs in kills, total attacks, hitting percentage and points scored this season. Starting the season as a reserve defensive specialist, Janik saw her first action as an outside hitter on October 17 in a win at Valparaiso, where she recorded her first career double-double with a career-best 11 kills to go along with 10 digs. Janik has collected double-digit dig efforts in four individual matches this season. Illinois State's career active digs leader had a standout defensive campaign in 2004-05, where she ranked third on the team with 275 digs (2.41 dpg) and appeared in a career-best 114 games.
SAAC's 2006-07 Educational Outreach Coordinator and Redbird quarterback, Luke Drone, was this year's winner of the Impact Award, an honor given to a student-athlete who embodies commitment to excellence. Because Drone continues to make an impact on the lives of others with his outstanding leadership skills, commitment to academics and his service to the community, he was honored with the Impact Award.
The Good Neighbor Award was bestowed upon a member of the Redbird softball team, utility player Christy Colgan. The honor is given to a student-athlete who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment to excellence in academics, service to others and personal conduct.
Current men's tennis player Yohann Nograbat received the 2006 Phoenix Award. Given to an individual who has overcome academic challenges, the Phoenix Award honors those who have made consistent academic progress throughout their career at Illinois State.
Illinois State assistant director of athletics Jane Fulton was impressed with the success of the banquet and was proud of all the award recipients.
"I'm very proud that we can put on an event like this at Illinois State, thanks to the generous help of AFNI and State Farm," said Fulton. "It's great that everyone can come together to support our student-athletes and recognize their hard work in the classroom, as well as all the extra work they do in the community. Also, the individuals who received special awards this evening are so deserving of those honors."
