ST. LOUIS – Illinois State football standouts Blake Winkler, Chris Highland and Will Davis were among 31 student-athletes that highlighted the 2014-15 Missouri Valley Football Conference Honor Roll, as announced by the league office Wednesday. Those 31 student-athletes earned the league's highest academic achievement by capturing the Mis¬souri Valley Football Conference President's Council Academic Excellence Award.
The President's Council Academic Excellence Award requires a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade-point average (GPA) through the Fall 2014 semester and participation in athletics for a minimum of two years. The student-athlete must be within 18 hours of graduation. Also, 143 student-athletes received the league's Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award, which re¬quires a minimum GPA of 3.2 for the previous two semesters (freshmen are not eligible).
Winkler led the way for the Redbirds among those honored with The President's Council Academic Excellence Award, as he maintains a 3.72 GPA in marketing while playing quarterback for the Redbirds. Winkler graduated this spring with his degree and will start graduate school in the fall at Illinois State.
Highland was a 2014 First-Team All-America selection at long snapper and also earned 2014 All-MVFC First-Team honors. A broadcast journalism major at ISU, Highland graduated from Illinois State in December with a 3.60 GPA and is currently working at WMBD TV in Peoria, Illinois, while pursuing his dream of long snapping in the NFL.
After playing three seasons for the Redbirds, Davis was forced to miss the 2014 season with an injury. However, Davis earned his degree from Illinois State in the spring with a 3.54 GPA in biological sciences and recently joined the United States Air Force.
In addition, the Missouri Valley Football Conference announced its 2014-15 Honor Roll, which recognizes the academic achievements of student-athletes. To qualify for the Honor Roll, a student-athlete must have recorded a minimum 3.0 grade point average for a specified term (Fall 2014), must have been a member of the football team, and must have a minimum of 12 hours of enrollment during the fall. Nearly 500 student-athletes earned MVFC Honor Roll recognition.
PRESIDENTS COUNCIL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARD - Blake Winkler, Chris Highland, Will Davis
COMMISSIONER'S ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARD - Mike Banks, Gage Beekman, Adam Conley, CJ Irvin, Will Davis, Alex Don¬nelly, Michael Ganzer, Dean Helt, Chris Highland, Collin Keoshian, Bryce Kiser, Scott Kuehn, Tyler Lovgren, Matt McCown, Roderick Polk, Brent Spack, Mark Spelman, Brady Tibbits, Blake Winkler, Tim Wright
HONOR ROLL - Rocco Ammons, Brian Athey, Kyle Avaloy, Mike Banks, Brannon Barry, Gage Beekman, Matt Biegalski, Nate Bond, Stanley Branch, Zach Breen, Tyler Brown, Wesley Brown, Cole Bumpas, Cody Cameron, Seth Combs, Adam Conley, Camden Cooper, Teddy Corwin, Charles Cowley, Andrew David, Will Davis, Alec Diab, Alex Donnelly, Jacob Donohoe, Patrick Dougherty, Soniel Estime, Joe Farmer, Tyler Finkbeiner, Michael Ganzer, Ryan Gelber, Christian Gibbs, Matt Goldsmith, James Graham, Kyle Harbour, Dean Helt, Chris Highland, Bryce Holm, Blake Hooper, George Hoselton, Cameron Hunt, CJ Irvin, Dal¬ton Keene, Collin Keoshian, Eric Kerr, Bryce Kiser, William Knust, Alec Kocour, Jake Kolbe, David Kornack, Scott Kuehn, Jarret Lecas, Cameron Lee, Mike Liedtke, Tyler Lovgren, Zach Marshall, Matt McCown, Matthew Meyers, Steven Nelson, Jonathan Nicholson, Donavin O'Day, Tylor Petkovich, Roderick Polk, Trevor Rea, Alejandro Rivera, Jacob Romero, Ryan Sadkowski, Spen¬cer Smith, Brent Spack, Mark Spelman, Dion Starnes, Koty Thelen, Brady Tibbits, Colton Underwood, Preston Van Mieghem, Brandon Westphal, Jacob Wienhoff, Kyle Williams, Blake Winkler, Tim Wright.
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