Bowling Green State University Athletics
Burkart and Guinness Named BGSU Scholar Athletes Of The Year
April 29, 2006 | General
April 28, 2006
Bowling Green, Ohio - Seniors Aaron Burkart (football) and Jessica Guinness (swimming), along with juniors Andi Bunko (track & field) and Jon Jakubowski (football), took home top honors at the 2005 BGSU Scholar-Athlete Banquet Saturday evening.
Burkart has been named BGSU's Senior Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year after recording a 3.61 grade-point average while majoring in physical education. A fifth-year member of the football squad, he helped lead the team to back-to-back Bowl Game wins in 2003 and 2004. In his five years with the team the Falcons own a MAC-best 43-17 record. For his career he saw action in 26 games, while recording 11 tackles.
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Guinness has been named Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She maintains a perfect 4.00 GPA while majoring in biology. This past season the senior was an all-MAC selection as well as a Rhodes Scholarship candidate for the university. She ranks fifth in the 100-free, ninth in the 50-free and 10th in the 200-free all-time in the BGSU record books.
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Jakubowski has been named Falcon Club Male Junior Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He holds a 3.53 GPA while majoring in marketing. A walk-on in 2003 and 2004, he was awarded a scholarship prior to the 2005 season. This past year he saw action in 10 games and had a season-high five tackles at Ball State. On the year he recorded 20 tackles, 11 solo.
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Five Falcon teams also were lauded for their academic achievements. The men's soccer team received the award for Most Improved GPA for teams with 20 or more participants. The Falcons of head coach Fred Thompson have a team GPA of 2.71 through the 2005 fall semester. Seven members of the men's soccer team had at least a 3.00 grade-point average.
The women's basketball (3.12 GPA) team and women's cross country (3.21 GPA) team received the award for Most Improved GPA for teams with 20 or fewer participants. Eight of the 13 members of Curt Miller's basketball squad totaled a 3.0 GPA or better, while the women's cross country team, coach by Cami Wells, had 13 of their 17 members score a 3.00 GPA or better.
The women's swimming and diving team earned the award for the Highest GPA for large teams (teams with over 20 participants). Head coach Keri Buff's team has a cumulative GPA of 3.33. Seventy-percent of the team (16-of-23) had a 3.0 GPA or higher while three had a perfect 4.0 GPA.
The Falcon volleyball team was recognized for having the highest GPA of teams with less than 20 members. Denise Van De Walle's team had a GPA of 3.62, with every member registering a GPA of 3.0 or better.
Former Falcon men's basketball member, Marcus Newbern, was named a Distinguished Alumna. Newbern was a two-year co-captain and scored 1,504 career points from 1979-82, 11th best in Falcon history. His senior campaign he averaged 20.1 points per game, while leading the Falcons to an 18-11 record.
One other note, Dr. Sue Mota earned the Distinguished Service Award as a long-serving member of the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee. She also served as chair of the NCAA self-study.
A total of 87 BGSU student-athletes were honored for achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or better, with 18 of those student-athletes earning a perfect 4.0.
