UNBC is honouring the academic achievements of its athletes with the annual Academic All-Canadian reception and donor recognition.
To achieve All-Canadian status, the athletes must maintain a GPA of 3 point six-seven or higher throughout the academic year.
15 Timberwolves are among the 3,101 Canadian athletes to receive the honour:
Ashley Anderson, Women’s Soccer
Francesco Bartolillo, Men’s Soccer
Jeff Chu, Men’s Basketball
Jessica Erickson, Women’s Soccer
Harjas Grewal, Men’s Soccer
Tanya Grob, Women’s Soccer
Katia Hartwig, Women’s Soccer
Darin Kamsteeg, Men’s Soccer
Clay Kiiskila, Men’s Soccer
Thomas McMurtry, Men’s Basketball
Jasprit Nijjar, Women’s Basketball
Logan Phenuff, Men’s Soccer
Hannah Pudlas, Women’s Basketball
Jo Ribeiro, Women’s Soccer
Sarah Robin, Women’s Basketball
“Frankly, I don’t know how they do it,” says sports information officer Geordie Carragher. “Being a student-athlete here is like a full-time job. You have to think about practice time, game days, travel time and class as well… But there’s a reason they’re called student-athletes and not athlete-students.”
Carragher says it was also an opportunity to introduce a new award.
“We introduced the Presidential Academic Achievement Award, which went to the varsity team here at UNBC that had the highest average GPA throughout the 2014/2015 academic year.”
And it was a tight race for the inaugural recipients!
The women’s soccer team edged the women’s basketball team by .01 of a point, with a team GPA of 3.06.
“It’s always so busy for them, they don’t necessarily have time to unwind and take stock of what they’ve accomplished,” noted Carragher. “For us to be able to recognize them is an honour. It’s a way to show that we appreciate their efforts not only on the field, but also in the classroom.”