Feb. 27, 2009
St. LOUIS -
Illinois State senior guard Kristi Cirone received a Missouri Valley Conference Good Neighbor Award for the winter season, as announced by the league office Thursday. In an effort to honor model student-athletes, the Valley honors a student-athlete from each school during each season.
Cirone is a four-time MVC Player of the Week and a five-time Prairie Farms/MVC Scholar-Athlete this season. She leads the conference in scoring with 18.9 points per game and ranks in the top-five in field-goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, assists, assist-to-turnover ratio and steals. Cirone has a 3.50 cumulative grade-point average in exercise science and volunteers her time with various community service programs throughout the Bloomington-Normal area. She was an MVC Good Neighbor in 2007.
The other honorees include Jenny Van Kirk, Bradley (women's basketball); Kenton Walker, Creighton (men's basketball); Matt Jurysta, Drake (men's track and field); Shannon Novosel, Evansville (women's basketball); Kelsey Luna, Indiana State (women's basketball); Roxy Stiles, Missouri State (Missouri State); Abby Girard, Northern Iowa (women's swimming); Kelly Dvorak, Southern Illinois (women's swimming); Marcy Sudbeck, Wichita State (women's basketball).
Fall honorees included Brian Lock, Bradley; Jeff Thayer, Creighton; Theodore Scheisman, Drake; Kellee Widener, Evansville; MC Richmond, Illinois State; Kelli Whitaker, Indiana State; David Arkin, Missouri State; Ben Schmidt, Northern Iowa; Larry Warner, Southern Illinois; Katie Niggemeyer, Wichita State.
In order to be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must be in good academic standing, must demonstrate good citizenship through good sportsmanship and significant community service, and must participate in a sport, during the season of recognition. The Valley will recognize 10 student-athletes three times annually (fall, winter, spring), for a total of 30 honorees. Institutions select their Good Neighbor Award honorees.
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