May 2, 2001

Truman Athletic Awards Night Honors Student-Athletes

The Truman State University Athletics Awards Night was held on Tuesday evening.

Several teams and individuals were honored at the event, including Truman's first national champion team, the women's swimming squad. John Meyer, Manager of the Quincy, Ill., Sears store, presented the women's swim team with the Sears Directors' Cup Waterford crystal national championship trophy, along with a check for $1,000.00 for the University.

Former Missouri state representative Don Summers also presented the team with a proclamation from the state, while Garry Gordon, Vice President of Academic Affairs, presented a resolution from the Truman Faculty Senate.

The first annual Dean's Recognition of Academic Excellence award was given out by Dr. Lou Ann Gilchrist, Dean of Student Affairs.

The women's recipient was senior second baseman Heather Mackie (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) of the softball team. Mackie has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average and was recently named the University's outstanding student in business administration-finance. The men's award-winner was senior Nathan Artz (Kansas City, Mo./North Kansas City), a member of the men's tennis team. Artz has maintained a 3.92 GPA in physics.

The Outstanding Senior Student-Athlete award was given to Kristi Bredbenner (O'Fallon, Mo./St. Dominic), a first-team all-America catcher on the softball team, and Chad Froelker (Owensville, Mo.), an all-America decathlete for the men's track and field team.

The men's soccer and volleyball teams were presented with the Team Academic Awards for achieving the highest team GPAs. The men's soccer team maintained an average grade point of 3.27, while the volleyball team registered a 3.45.

Clint Thompson was given the second annual Spirit of Truman award, and received the only standing ovation of the evening. Thompson has served as head athletic trainer at the University for the past 16 years and will retire effective June 30.

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