NORMAL, Ill. – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois State's annual academic excellence awards ceremony The Reggies was not able to be held at Redbird Arena. However, the winners of several of the awards sponsored by State Farm were announced Friday, as Redbird Athletics celebrated the success of its student-athletes during the 2019-20 academic year.
Soccer standout Kate Del Fava was honored with both the Jill Hutchison Female Athlete of the Year Award and the Linda Herman Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in an impressive sweep of two of the department's highest yearly honors. Football All-American James Robinson was named the Milt Weisbecker Male Athlete of the Year and Jake Gillum was selected as the Doug Collins Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
"I am extremely proud of the efforts by our Redbirds in and out of the classroom this past academic year. Even with a pandemic occurring in the spring, Redbird student-athletes still put forth tremendous effort to uphold the academic standards that are in place at this institution," ISU Assistant Athletics Director for Academics and Life Skills Joe Klausner said. "It's disappointing that we aren't able to host The Reggies this year to share in the athletic and academic achievements of so many, but we know our Redbirds will continue to be resilient and motivated during these trying times. I want to offer my congratulations to our nominees and award winners on their achievements, in addition to all Redbird student-athletes that earned a spot at The Reggies."
Other winners included Andrea Coursey of the softball team, who earned the Impact Award which is given to a student-athlete who embodies a commitment to excellence. Volleyball standout Stef Jankiewicz was honored with the Good Neighbor Award, which is presented to a student-athlete exemplifying commitment to excellence in academics, service and personal conduct. Rounding out the winners was volleyball's Alyssa Kronberg, who earned the Dr. Jim Johnson Phoenix Award which recognizes a student-athlete who has overcome academic challenges and made consistent academic progress during their time at Illinois State.
Illinois State student-athletes set a semester departmental grade-point average (GPA) record of 3.61 during the Spring 2020 semester, topping the previous mark of 3.31 set during the Spring 2019 semester, and all but two teams beat their previous team GPA records. ISU's women's programs combined for a 3.77 cumulative GPA, topping the previous high of 3.58, and the Illinois State men's teams combined to earn a 3.45 GPA to set a new department standard. A total of 377 student-athletes made the AFNI Honor Roll, accounting for almost 91 percent of the entire student-athlete population. Additionally, a total of 162 student-athletes posted perfect 4.0 GPAs during the semester.
Due to the pandemic in the spring semester, Redbird student-athletes couldn't get out in the community as much as they had hoped, but still managed to complete almost 2,000 hours of community service during the 2019-2020 academic year. Â
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
Â
