DII ADA Academic Achievement Awards go to 33 Vikings

Thirty-three Western Washington University student-athletes were named recipients of 2014-15 Division II Athletics Directors Association Academic Achievement Awards.

The DII ADA Academic Achievement Awards is a program that recognizes the academic accomplishments of student-athletes at the Division II level.

To receive the honor, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale, have completed a minimum of two years (six quarters or four semesters) of college level work, and been an active member of an intercollegiate team during his/her last academic year.

Seventeen of the WWU award winners were repeaters, five being honored for the third time. The three-time honorees include women’s soccer midfielder Kim Cooper, women’s track and field jumper Elizabeth Knope, men’s soccer midfielder Matt Temple, women’s cross country and track & field runner Mikhaila Thornton and women’s track and field javelin thrower Katie Reichert.

The Vikings’ Maddy Jalbert had a school-best 3.94 GPA. A behavioral neuroscience major, she is a women’s cross country and track and field runner.

Jalbert was followed by women’s track and field jumper Jasmine McMullin, an English Literature major with a 3.91 GPA; and women’s cross country and track & field runner Shawna Troupe, a kinesiology major with a 3.90 GPA.

The program was initiated in 2008. Twenty WWU student-athletes were honored that year, followed by 22 in 2009, 30 in 2010, 39 in 2011, 46 in 2012, 42 in 2013 and 43 in 2014.

This story was originally published August 14, 2015 at 11:26 AM with the headline "DII ADA Academic Achievement Awards go to 33 Vikings."