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Winners were announced for Doug Collins Male Scholar-Athlete of the
Year and Linda Herman Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the
highest academic honors bestowed upon a male and female
student-athlete. Additionally, three other awards, introduced in
2004 -- the Impact, Phoenix and Good Neighbor awards -- were
bestowed upon influential Redbird student-athletes.
The 2005 recipient of the Doug Collins Male Scholar-Athlete of
the Year was former Illinois State football kicker Stephen Carroll.
Though Collins was not in attendance to present the award, a
lifelong friend of Collins, Don Franke, was on hand to congratulate
Carroll.
Carroll ended his career at Illinois State as the most prolific
scorer in Redbird football history. The native of O'Fallon finished
with 271 points scored and also owns the school record for career
field goal percentage, at 70.9 percent, and consecutive makes on
PATs, with 86. In addition to his successes on the field, Carroll
excelled in the classroom while at Illinois State. The two-time
Gateway All-Academic First Team selection was a member of the AFNI
Athletics Honor Roll every semester, while being on the dean's list
twice. In 2004, he was one of 36 national players selected to the
Division I-AA Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star
Team.
Softball standout Kate Stake has been named the inaugural
recipient of the Linda Herman Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
award, for the 2004-05 academic year. Herman was present to award
the accolade named in her honor to Stake.
During her senior season, the four-year starter at second base
received numerous accolades, including Easton All-America Second
Team honors and ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Third Team
laurels. Stake finished the 2005 season ranked in the top 10 in the
Missouri Valley Conference in eight statistical categories, capping
off her career by being named to the Valley All-Tournament Team. The
Buffalo Grove native is just one of three Redbird softball players
to garner all-league accolades in four straight seasons. She
finished her career ranked in the top five all-time at Illinois
State in career games started, hits, home runs, runs batted in and
total bases.
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 Ryan Brown, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president and
member of the reigning Valley men's golf championship team, was this
year's winner of the Impact Award, an honor given to a
student-athlete who embodies the commitment to excellence. Because
Brown made an impact on the lives of others with his outstanding
leadership skills, commitment to academics and his service to the
community, he was honored with the Impact Award.
The Good Neighbor Award was bestowed upon a member of the Redbird
football team, offensive lineman Janiah Downing. The honor is given
to a student-athlete who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment
to excellence in academics, service to others and personal conduct.
A member of the 2004 football team, Downing logged more than 1,000
hours of community service as well as helping by volunteering his
time and assisting fellow student-athletes in their endeavors to
achieve their academic goals.
Former men's basketball standout Gregg Alexander received this
year's Phoenix Award. Given to an individual who has overcome
academic challenges, the Phoenix Award honors those who have made
consistent academic progress throughout their career at Illinois
State.
Illinois State assistant director of athletics Jane Fulton was
impressed with the success of the banquet and was proud of all the
award recipients.
"I'm very proud that we can put on an event like this at Illinois
State, thanks to the generous help of AFNI and State Farm," Fulton
said. "It's great that everyone can come together to support our
student-athletes and recognize their hard work in the classroom, as
well as all the extra work they do in the community. Also, the
individuals who received special awards this evening are so
deserving of those honors."
[Illinois
State University news release]
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