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Winners were announced for the highest academic honors bestowed upon
a male and female student-athlete, the Doug Collins Male
Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Linda Herman Female Scholar-Athlete
of the Year. Additionally, three awards introduced in 2004, the
Impact, Phoenix and Good Neighbor awards, were bestowed upon
influential Redbird student-athletes.
Westering, a former college football coach, knows plenty about
the big time. At Pacific Lutheran, he finished his coaching career
with 305 victories and a winning percentage of .761, winning four
national college division championships and three awards as national
coach of the year.
"Most people think that the big time is a place," said Westering
while addressing the audience. "But it's not a place at all. The big
time is a state of your heart. It all depends on your attitude and
the decisions you make. The big time is right here at Illinois
State."
The recipient of the Doug Collins Male Scholar-Athlete of the
Year was
Ryan Brown, Illinois State men's golfer. Brown is the
second recipient of the award, after former football standout
Stephen Carroll received the honor last year.
Brown is the current L. Durwood Boone Endowed Scholarship
recipient. During the 2004-05 academic year, he was named a Bone
Scholar, which is the highest academic scholarship on ISU's campus.
He has been an active member of the university community and was
named president of the ISU Student-Athlete Advisory Council for the
2005-06 school year. He also served the Missouri Valley Conference
as the SAAC representative to the NCAA in 2006-07. He has been a
member of the AFNI Athletics Honor Roll every semester and received
the Valley President's Council Academic Excellence Award in 2006,
the highest recognition for academic achievement awarded from the
league. He is currently working towards a master's degree in
business administration.
On the course, Brown paced the 'Birds in 2004-05, tying for 16th
place in the D.A. Weibring Intercollegiate, shooting a three-round
total of 224. In the summer of 2006, Brown took home medalist honors
in the college division of the fifth annual Country Youth Classic at
the ISU golf course. In 2004, he was selected as a Missouri Valley
Conference Scholar-Athlete.
Volleyball standout
Jessie Janik was named the second recipient
of the Linda Herman Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. Herman
was present to award the accolade named in her honor.
Janik, a Lemont native, was the inaugural recipient of the Dr.
Linda Herman Endowment this year and received the 2003 Kelly Meisner
Courage Award. She has been an AFNI Athletics Honor Roll member for
seven consecutive semesters. She was also the leader of this year's
ISU preview guides, welcoming incoming freshmen to campus in the
fall. Janik will complete her undergraduate education at Illinois
State in May 2007 with a double major in food, nutrition and
dietetics, and public relations.
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 This season the fifth-year senior co-captain has tallied career
highs in kills, total attacks, hitting percentage and points scored.
Starting the season as a reserve defensive specialist, Janik saw her
first action as an outside hitter on Oct. 17 in a win at Valparaiso,
where she recorded her first career double-double with a career-best
11 kills to go along with 10 digs. She has collected double-digit
dig efforts in four individual matches this season and is Illinois
State's active career digs leader. She had a standout defensive
campaign in 2004-05, when she ranked third on the team with 275 digs
(2.41 dpg) and appeared in a career-best 114 games.
Luke Drone, the Student-Athlete Advisory Council's 2006-07
educational outreach coordinator and Redbird quarterback, was this
year's winner of the Impact Award, an honor given to a
student-athlete who embodies commitment to excellence. He was
honored with the award because he continues to make an impact on the
lives of others with his outstanding leadership skills, commitment
to academics and service to the community.
The Good Neighbor Award was bestowed upon a member of the Redbird
softball team, utility player
Christy Colgan. The honor is given to
a student-athlete who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment to
excellence in academics, service to others and personal conduct.
Current men's tennis player
Yohann Nograbat received the 2006
Phoenix Award. Given to an individual who has overcome academic
challenges, the 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," said
Fulton. "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 provided by Kristen E.
Greenstreet, media relations graduate assistant]
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