ST. LOUIS – One hundred sixteen student-athletes highlight more than 2,200 of those to earn selection to the 2019-20 Missouri Valley Conference Honor Roll, as announced by the league office today.  Those 116 student-athletes earned the league’s highest academic achievement by capturing the Missouri Valley Conference Presidents’ Council Academic Excellence Award.

The Presidents’ Council Academic Excellence Award requires a minimum 3.8 cumulative grade point average, participation in athletics a minimum of two years, and the student-athlete must be within 18 hours of graduation (by the end of the Spring 2020 semester).  Also, 880 student-athletes received the league’s Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award, which requires a minimum grade point average of 3.5 for each of the previous two semesters, a minimum 3.2 cumulative grade point average, and participation in athletics a minimum of two years.

SIU’s Kyle Back (baseball), Addison Fugitt (baseball), Austin Ulick (baseball), Kristen Nelson (women’s basketball), Jenny Jansen (softball), Laura Carver (swimming and diving), Cassidy Lounsbury (swimming and diving), Rita Naude (swimming and diving), Payton Parman (swimming and diving), Sarah Petro (swimming and diving), Savannah Long (track and field) and Laura Rojas (volleyball) were honored for their efforts with the President’s Academic Award. It marked the fifth-straight year in which at least eight Salukis have taken home the President’s Academic Award and SIU’s 12 honorees are tied for its most since at least 2006.

Along with the 12 recipients of the President’s Academic Award, 111 Saluki student-athletes were named Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award and a total of 240 SIU student-athletes were honored on the MVC Honor Roll.

A complete list of honorees can be found here (PDF).