May 2, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
After spending countless hours in the classroom and on the playing field, fighting for their soon-to-be- alma mater, Illinois State senior student-athletes will be honored Thursday, May 4, at the annual senior banquet. Coming together for the last time as a class, the senior student-athletes will be recognized at 7 p.m. in Redbird Arena.
The 67 seniors being featured at the banquet have recorded many accomplishments in their years in a Redbird uniform, including: 10 regular season conference championships, 12 conference tournament championships, 23 post-season appearances, 55 first-team all-conference selections, 13 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference individual champions, 14 NCAA individual regional qualifiers, six NCAA individual qualifiers, four regional team selections, one third team I-AA All-American, one second team ESPN All-District selection, 21 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference scholar-athlete team selections, one Prairie Farms Missouri Valley Conference scholar-athlete of the year, one Bone scholar, one second team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, one Illinois State Red Tassel Mortarboard member and one Golden Key scholar.
¬This class also helped set a new department GPA record of 2.93, set in the fall of 2005, while they set a new community service record of 2,000 hours this year.
Illinois State assistant athletics director for academics and life skills Jane Fulton believes that this event will truly capture the dedication and success of these seniors.
"This is one of the neatest events that we put on here at Illinois State," said Fulton. "It is becoming such a great tradition not only for honoring their list of accomplishments, but also for instilling in them what it truly means to be a Redbird. The seniors really look forward to that and they treasure that they are now forever a part of the Redbird family."
WMBD's Kurt Pegler will serve as the emcee for the event, while former Redbird student-athlete Christian Goy will be featured as the night's keynote speaker.
Goy, the 2002 NCAA indoor mile champion and a 2003 graduate of Illinois State, has completed his Masters Degree requirements at ISU and will also be graduating in two weeks.
Fulton is certain that Goy's commitment and enthusiasm regarding athletics at Illinois State will resonate in his message to the senior student-athletes.
"I have never seen a more loyal student-athlete at Illinois State than Christian Goy," Fulton continued. "He has appreciated his time at Illinois State and can be so proud of all that he accomplished. I am certain that those who attend the banquet will feel his loyalty and appreciate his passion for other student-athletes and the university as a whole."
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