April 27, 2004

Notre Dame, Ind. –

Top Individual Cumulative GPAs in PDF Format
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Notre Dame rower Megan Sanders earned top honors Monday night (April 26) at the 12th Annual Academic Excellence Awards Dinner organized by the University of Notre Dame’s Office of Academic Services for Student-Athletes and sponsored by the Athletic Department.

The dinner, which was held in the concourse of the Joyce Center, honored 369 student-athletes who possessed a 3.2 cumulative grade point average or higher. Also honored were the student-athletes on each varsity team with the highest cumulative GPA (trainers, managers and cheerleaders included), plus the team with the highest combined GPAs in each semester.

Jim Towey, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives, served as the keynote speaker.

Sanders (Kendalville, Ind.) was honored with the Top Gun Award as the graduating senior with the highest cumulative GPA. She owns a 3.997 overall grade index and is enrolled in the College of Science with a concentration in mathematics and life sciences. Sanders has been named to the Dean’s List all seven semesters to date and has earned a 4.0 grade index on six occasions.

Twenty-one athletes were cited for earning perfect 4.0 grade point averages during the 2003 spring semester – Shannon Byrne (women’s golf, political science and Spanish, Arlington Heights, Ill.), Stephanie Clark (cheerleading, science pre-professional studies and science technologies and values, Peoria, Ill.), Keara Coughlin (volleyball, theology, Chicago, Ill.), Petra Dankova (women’s track and field, First Year of Studies, Kladno, Czech Republic), Andrea Doud (rowing, First Year of Studies, Redford, Mich.), Kimberly Fletcher (volleyball, anthropology and computer applications, St. Louis, Mo.), Lauren Fischer (women’s lacrosse, art history, Pittsburgh, Pa.), Jacqueline Heap (women’s track and field, sociology and Spanish, Kansas City, Mo.), Heather Hoffman (cheerleading, science pre- professional studies, Eugene, Ore.), Shannon Hyduk (manager, accounting, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), John Keane (men’s track and field, engineering, Winona, Minn.), Matthew Kerls (manager, accounting and economics, Des Peres, Mo.), Cassie Markstahler (rowing, accounting, North Manchester, Ind.), Laura Metzger (manager, mathematics, Bemus Point, N.Y.), Grant Osborn (trainer, First Year of Studies, Monroe, N.H.),Vanessa Pruzinsky (women’s soccer, chemical engineering, Trumbull, Conn.), Megan Sanders (rowing, pre-professional studies and life sciences, Kendall, Ind.), Melissa Schmidt (women’s track and field, architecture, Miles City, Mont.), Emily Showman (women’s track and field, history, Seattle, Wash.), Molly Ward (manager, political science and film and television, Helena, Mont.) and Robert Woods (football, First Year of Studies, Atlantic, Ia.).

Earning a 4.0 mark during the 2003 fall semester were Christi Arnerich (women’s cross country, biology, Huntington Beach, Calif.), Mary Boland (women’s soccer, psychology, Hudson, Ohio), Shannon Byrne (women’s golf, political science and Spanish, Arlington Heights, Ill.), Lisa D’Olier (women’s swimming and diving, marketing, Houston, Texas), Kim Fletcher (volleyball, anthropology and computer applications, St. Louis, Mo.), Benjamin Hess (men’s cross country, First Year of Studies, Lititz, Pa.), Natalie Ladine (rowing, pre-professional studies, Sacramento, Calif,.), Emily Loomis (volleyball, industrial design, Fort Wayne, Ind.), Kristen Peterson (women’s swimming and diving, accounting, Wichita, Kan.), Brendan Prendergast (fencing, pre-professional studies, St. Petersburg, Fla.), Megan Sanders (mathematics and life sciences, Kendalville, Ind.) and Kevin Wiseman (men’s golf, pre-professional studies, South Bend, Ind.).

David Daniels (Sioux City, Ia.) was presented with the third annual Chuck Linster that recognizes a senior cheerleader, trainer or manager with the highest GPA. Daniels, a pre-professional major in the College of Science, owns a 3.945 grade index.

The teams with the highest combined GPAs were women’s golf in the spring of 2003 with a 3.479 and women’s cross country in the fall of 2003 with a 3.503.

Click the link for a list of the individuals with the top cumulative GPAs by sports (must have achieved upper-class status), following the 2003 fall semester.