Pitt Honors 269 Scholar-Athletes
The Pitt Alumni Association honored 269 scholar-athletes who earned grade-point averages (GPA) of 3.0 or greater during 2009. The students were recognized during the Feb. 15 University of Pittsburgh Scholar-Athlete Awards Breakfast in Alumni Hall. Pitt Alumni Association President-elect Jack Smith was among the event’s special guests; Pitt Director of Life Skills Penny Semaia served as the master of ceremonies.
“There are so many special days at the University of Pittsburgh, but none more special than when we recognize our scholar-athletes,” Athletic Director Steve Pederson said. “The high level of academic achievement by our student-athletes, combined with their high level of achievement in their chosen sports, is most impressive.”
Members of Pitt’s Academic Support Services for Student-Athletes handed out Blue and Gold awards to students who earned a 3.0 GPA or higher in 2009. There were 141 student-athletes who earned GPAs of 3.0-3.49, 93 who earned 3.5-3.99 GPAs, and 16 students who achieved perfect 4.0 GPAs.
The list of 4.0 student-athletes included: Justin Boehm (men’s soccer), Jonathan Buchanan (men’s swimming and diving), Meagan Dooley (volleyball), Sara Fabanich (cheer and dance), Christian Fagan (wrestling), Kaitlyn Flynn (women’s track and field), Ashley Habbel (women’s soccer), Aaron Hassett (football), Kari Hedderick (women’s track and field), Andrew Kalas (men’s soccer), Philip Konieczny (baseball), Alicia Lichvar (women’s track and field), Carissa Martin (cheer and dance), Erica Nickels (cheer and dance), Megan Sisko (women’s swimming and diving), and Lauren Zammerilla (cheer and dance).
Pederson also announced the Academic Team Awards. The Most Improved Team was women’s basketball, which earned a cumulative 2.92 GPA.
Earning the Top Men’s Academic Award for the first time was the men’s soccer team, boasting a collective 3.08 GPA.
The women’s volleyball team was named the Top Women’s Team and Overall Team awardee for a record-setting fourth consecutive year. The volleyball team was also named the Top Academic Team from 1995 to 1997. This past year, the squad recorded an impressive 3.26 GPA overall, as six members earned 3.5 GPAs or higher.
PERFECT 4.0 GPA AWARDS
Men’s Soccer
Justin Boehm and Andrew Kalas
Men’s Swimming and Diving
Jonathan Buchanan
Volleyball
Meagan Dooley
Cheer and Dance
Sara Fabanich, Erica Nickels, Carissa Martin, and Lauren Zammerilla
Wrestling
Christian Fagan
Women’s Track and Field
Kaitlyn Flynn, Kari Hedderick, and Alicia Lichvar
Women’s Soccer
Ashley Habbel
Football
Aaron Hassett
Baseball
Philip Konieczny
Women’s Swimming and Diving
Megan Sisko
GOLD AWARDS (3.5-4.0 GPA)
Baseball
Chris Harner, Philip Konieczny, and John Schultz
Men’s Basketball
Sean Brown, Tim Frye, and Ryan Tiesi
Women’s Basketball
Leeza Burdgess and Kate Popovec
Football
Lucas Briggs, Myles Caragein, Pat Costello, John Fieger, Adam Gunn, Kevin Harper, Aaron Hassett, John Malecki, Mike Shanahan, Caleb Wilson, and Chris Yankoski
Women’s Gymnastics
Dani Bryan, Jennifer Liberato, Shannon McConnell, Molly Moyer, Krista Rubini, and Lisa Taylor
Men’s Soccer
Matt Baker, Justin Boehm, Andrew Kalas, Zach Matthews, Joe Prince-Wright, and Ethan Talbott
Women’s Soccer
Abbigail Baldys, Laura Berbert, Shannon Cody, Alison Finch, Ashley Habbel, Maura Lacey, Emily Peters, Brittany Pfaff, Kristina Rioux, and Maura Romano
Softball
Cory Berliner and Kayla Zinger
Men’s Swimming and Diving
Jon Buchanan, Andrzej Dubiel, Collin Forner, Ryan Lynn, David McLaren, Geoff Morgan, Charlie Zettel
Women’s Swimming and Diving
Joanna Budzis, Sophie Cross, Margo Ekstrom, Allison Horvath, Tamara Lelli, Sarah Looney, Tiffany Malatesta, Lisa McDonnell, Cookie McIntyre, Beth Newell, Megan Sisko, Elena Spak, Sara Sullivan
Cheer and Dance Team
Beth Abbott, Brittany Austin, Megan Barna, Kellyn Black, Christie Blondek, Christie Bonk, Juliana Bursic, Katie Casella, Brianna Clare, Tracy Clinton, Chrissy Colalillo, Casey Cruden, Michael Degenhart, Sara Fabanich, Cathryn Hoel, Lauren Hunt, Brittany Jackson, Katelynn Jackson, Nicole Jackson, Gina Klemz, Erin Lageman, Kyle Loftus, Carissa Martin, Lauren McCormick, Aimee Moore, Erica Nickels, Nick Passe, Teresa Pipak, Iovanna Ritter, Kelly Scanlon, Hannah Scrim, Zara Wroblewski, and Lauren Zammerilla.
Men’s Track and Field/Cross Country
Chase Broussard, Greg Kareis, and Maka Mudekunye
Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country
Janelle Adams, Kendall Butch, Heather Calisto-Marsden, Kaitlyn Flynn, Kari Hedderick, Rachel Hess, Anita James, Lindsay Kramer, Amanda Kuhl, Jonnique Lawrence, Alicia Lichvar, Carrie Mavrikis, Korinne Piper, Emily Setlock, Victoria Toso, Leah Ulizio, and Kelsey Voltz.
Women’s Tennis
Elizabeth Adams, Adela Aprodu, Sofia Oluwole, and Karma Parbhu
Women’s Volleyball
Meagan Dooley, Brittany Fallis, Imani Harper, Allyson Hodnik, Rachel Kalberer, and Tara Rohall
Wrestling
Christian Fagan and Mark Powell
BLUE AWARDS (3.0-3.49 GPA)
Baseball
Corey Baker, Cory Brownsten, Kevin Dooley, Ryan Fairbrother, Matt Iannazzo, David Kaye, Frank Mercurio, Emanuel Pahoulis, Josh Smith, Kevan Smith, and Travis Whitmore.
Men’s Basketball
Chase Adams, Ashton Gibbs, J.J. Richardson, Nick Rivers, Nasir Robinson, Dante Taylor, Travon Woodall
Women’s Basketball
Ashlee Anderson, Sarah Ogoke, and Pepper Wilson
Cheer and Dance Team
Tiffany Berry, Amber Bond, Amanda Eggert, Lindsay Gilarski, Brianna Glaser, Tiffany Golonka, Thomas Gresko, Jillian Grossman, Caylen Harris, Bettina Herold, Erin Kenny, Marissa Lee, Alyssa Miller, Kayla Missigman, Michael Nuzzo, Maddie Rendulich, Samantha Schenk, Adam Slabicki, Brooke Slemons, Tiana Smith, Caitlin Timoney, Amanda Tomich, Kristin Weir, Jaime Wesloski, and Megan Worbs
Football
Jonathan Baldwin, Pat Bostick, Irvan Brown, Nate Byham, Joe Capp, Kevin Collier, Jeremiah Davis, Steve Dell, Andrew Devlin, Kolby Gray, Max Gruder, Robb Houser, Henry Hynoski, Jr., Andrew Janocko, Alex Karabin, Dion Lewis, Chris Mike, Gus Mustakas, Josh Novotny, Marco Pecora, Emanuel Rackard, Tyler Tkach, Joe Trebitz, Justin Virbitsky, and Matt Yoklic
Gymnastics
Kelsey Ainsworth, Mallory Brewer, Jessica Byich, Alicia Talucci, Sarah Thompson, Shannon Vafiadou
Men’s Soccer
Wils Alpern, Alex Betancourt, Terry Boland, Ryan Brode, Andrew Clifford, Morgan Faust, Shane Flowers, Orane Gordon, Connor Malone, Adam Monteverde, and Chris Wilcox
Women’s Soccer
Elizabeth Carroll, Kathleen Caslin, Dorie Heald, Morie Kephart, Katheryn Kunungi, Molly McGeehin, Kelsi Morris, Katelyn Ruhe, and Katherine Weiler
Softball
Ciera Damon, Keli Gaynor, Megan Livesey, Emily Nowicki, Alyssa O’ Connell, Jessica Rhodunda, and Reba Tutt
Men’s Swimming and Diving
Aidan Considine, Jason Erdeljac, Charlie Hauser, Donny Mata, Zane McLain, Hussein Mohamed, and Jake Lucas
Women’s Swimming and Diving
Tory Alland, Emily DeStefano, Brittany DiSanti, Alyssa Ferraro, Ryann Kishbaugh, Kristen McMullan, Caitlin Trant, Yolandi Van Der Merwe, Yolandi Van Rooyen
Women’s Tennis
Melissa Bostwick, Sarah Dieffenbach, Marie Eanes-Fennelly, Minh Evans, and Sabrina Visram
Men’s Track and Field/Cross Country
Andrew Cerrito, Josh Christopher, Folarin Ijelu, Kyle Kaminiski, Nick Malenka, Jermaine Lowery, Jerome Lowery, Teddy Miller, Wesley Washington, and Alonzo Webb
Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country
Sarah Anderson, Ogadinma Anyanwu, Kathryn Bannantine, Emily Barno, Kaetlyn Brown, Brianna Broyles, Brittany Carroll, Jessica Catalano, Omowunmi Fapohunda, Robin Gilmore, Elizabeth Kline, Susan Martinez, Erinn McMahon, Taylor Myers, Alexis Wilder, and Carson Williams
Women’s Volleyball
Lauren Hartman, Jenn Katona, Michelle Rossi, Melissa Stadelman, and Amy Town
Wrestling
Chris Albright, James Conroy, Adam Counterman, Zach Grove, Victor Konno, Tyler Nauman, Donald Tasser, Ryan Tomei, Andrew Vaughan, and Matt Wilps
Other Stories From This Issue
On the Freedom Road
Follow a group of Pitt students on the Returning to the Roots of Civil Rights bus tour, a nine-day, 2,300-mile journey crisscrossing five states.
Day 1: The Awakening
Day 2: Deep Impressions
Day 3: Music, Montgomery, and More
Day 4: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Day 5: Learning to Remember
Day 6: The Mountaintop
Day 7: Slavery and Beyond
Day 8: Lessons to Bring Home
Day 9: Final Lessons