Centenary's Fulenchek, Valpo's Rietema Named Scholar-Athletes of the Year
ELMHURST,
Ill. - Centenary baseball player
Brandon Fulenchek and Valparaiso basketball player
Betsy Rietema have been selected as the 2006-07
Mid-Continent Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year in a vote of
the conference's faculty athletic representatives. The Mid-Con
Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award is the most prestigious
individual honor given by the league.
Fulenchek, who is
Centenary's first Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year recipient,
graduated summa cum laude (3.96 grade-point average) with a double
major in economics and finance. In addition to receiving the
Centenary College Male Athletic Achievement Award, he earned
Centenary's Top Economics Major and Top Finance Major awards.
Fulenchek is a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon (international
economics honor society), Sigma Beta Delta (international business
honor society) and Omicron Delta Kappa (national leadership honor
society).
A three-time academic
all-conference honoree, Fulenchek was named to the Commissioner's
List of Academic Excellence as a junior and senior. He was a first
team All-Mid-Con pick in 2007, and in 2005 and 2006, he was named
to the all-tournament team at the Mid-Con Championship. Fulenchek
was also on the Dean's List eight times during his
career.
A double major in
chemistry and psychology, Rietema graduated summa cum laude with a
3.97 GPA. A first team Academic All-American in 2007 and third team
selection in 2006, she was named Academic All-Mid-Con three times
and was on the Commissioner's List of Academic Excellence during
her junior and senior seasons. Rietema is the recipient of an NCAA
Post Graduate Scholarship and plans to attend medical school. She
earned Presidential Academic Honors for Student-Athletes every year
she was eligible and was named to the Dean's List every semester.
Rietema received the Lumina Award (given to students enrolled in the College of Arts and
Sciences with a cumulative GPA of 3.6 or higher) and the Laurel
Award (given to the graduating student-athlete with the highest
cumulative GPA).
Rietema was named
first team all-conference in 2006-07, was a second team pick in
2005-06 and was named to the All-Newcomer Team as a freshman in
2003-04. She ranks in the Top 10 in Valparaiso history in points
(1,276), points per game (11.0), rebounds (594), steals (169),
games played (116) and free throws made (341). She was twice named
her team's Most Offensive Player and was the team MVP as a
senior.
(Also nominated for
the Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year award: Justin Wenger, IUPUI,
golf; Richard Harrison, UMKC, tennis; Brady Vance, Oakland, soccer;
Prince Mumba, Oral Roberts, cross country/track & field;
Cameron Nelson, Southern Utah, baseball; David Peterson,
Valparaiso, swimming; Zach Guthrie, Western Illinois,
golf).
(Also nominated for
the Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year award: Micah Rhodes,
Centenary, softball; Sarah Needy, IUPUI, softball; Sara Hiller,
UMKC, cross country/track & field; Nicole Piggott, Oakland,
basketball; Gentry Detter, Oral Roberts, soccer; Dani Lavigne,
Southern Utah, soccer; Bess Rapp, Western Illinois,
soccer).
The Summit League is
comprised of 10 member institutions - Centenary College of
Louisiana, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW),
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI),
University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), North Dakota State
University, Oakland University, Oral Roberts University, South
Dakota State University, Southern Utah University and Western
Illinois University.
