Date: April 18, 2003
Contact: Brian Laubscher (540) 463-8676
Release: Upon Receipt

ONE-HUNDRED TWELVE W&L STUDENTS EARN SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARDS
A Record 22 Attain a 4.0 or Higher Grade-Point Average for the Winter Semester

LEXINGTON, Va. -- Washington and Lee Director of Athletics Mike Walsh has announced that 112 students earned Scholar-Athlete awards during the recently completed winter term. The students are all members of W&L athletic teams and achieved a grade-point average (GPA) of at least 3.500.

Additionally, a record 22 of the students honored achieved grade-point averages of 4.0 or higher (an A+ is worth 4.330 at W&L). Among the students achieving 4.0 or higher GPA's were sophomore field hockey and women's lacrosse player Kristen Brown (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville), junior women's soccer and basketball player Heather Coleman (Blackwood, N.J./Triton Regional), senior women's soccer captain Lindsey Duran (Colleyville, Texas/Fort Worth Country Day), freshman field hockey player Courtney Harrison (Richmond, Va./Collegiate), freshman track athlete Hugo Ledesma Diaz (Zapopan, Mexico/American School at Guadalajara), junior men's tennis player Seth Martin (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Radnor), senior Academic All-America football player and NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient John Melillo (Forney, Texas/Belle Plaine), senior swimmer Michelle Moore (Houston, Texas/St. Agnes), sophomore All-ODAC field hockey and women's lacrosse player Kitt Murphy (Richmond, Va./St. Catherines), senior men's tennis player Chris Sorenson (Glen Cove, N.Y./Long Island Lutheran), senior men's lacrosse player Matt Strickler (Lexington, Va./Rockbridge County), junior men's tennis player Chris Surdo (Munroe, Conn./Hamden Hall Country Day), sophomore football player Zach Taylor (Reston, Va./Thomas Jefferson), senior cross country captain Will Teichman (High Point, N.C./T. Wingate Andrews), sophomore swimmer Mary Elizabeth Tessier (New Orleans, La./Isidore Newman), senior Academic All-America football captain Jay Thomas (Houston, Texas/Kincaid), junior track athlete James Watson (Peachtree City, Ga./Starr's Mill), senior All-ODAC women's tennis player Brandi Jane Wedgeworth (Hilton Head, S.C./Hilton Head Christian), junior baseball player Mike Wert (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), senior women's lacrosse player Laura Wilson (Atlanta, Ga./Westminster), sophomore volleyball player Emily Wolfing (Mt. Airy, Md./South Carroll) and junior men's lacrosse player Jimmy Zunka (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne's-Belfield).

Other notable athletes to receive Scholar-Athlete awards included sophomore All-America tennis player Lindsay Hagerman (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park), junior All-America lacrosse player Joanna Perini (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington), senior All-America women's tennis player Erika Proko (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day), junior All-America swimmer Eric Ritter (Birmingham, Ala./Mountain Brook) and senior All-America football player and track athlete Chris Sullivan (San Antonio, Texas/Alamo Heights).

Twenty-one of W&L's 23 varsity athletic programs achieved a team GPA of at least 3.000, led by the women's swimming team with a 3.535. The highest men's team GPA was tennis with a 3.330 and no team recorded a GPA lower than 2.893.

The women's teams combined for a 3.262 GPA, while the men's teams combined to post a 3.060 GPA. The overall student-athlete average was 3.140.

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