2008-09 FSU Student-Athletes Recognized By DII ADA

The Division II Athletics Directors Association (DII ADA) has announced 32 Ferris State University student-athletes as 2008-09 recipients of the DII ADA Academic Achievement Awards presented by WeatherPORT.

The Academic Achievement Awards is a program that recognizes the academic accomplishments of student-athletes at the Division II level. 

One hundred and fifteen institutions sent in nominees for the 2008-09 Academic Achievement Awards, up from the 67 institutions that participated last year. There are a total of 4,020 student-athletes being recognized this year. A year ago, 2,155 student-athletes were honored. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference had a record number 391 student-athletes honored, followed by the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) with 365 nominees.

Representing the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) besides Ferris State were Findlay, Grand Valley State, Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan, and Wayne State.

In order for a student-athlete to receive an Academic Achievement Award, the athletics director of the Division II institution MUST BE a CURRENT dues paying member of the DII ADA. 

Also, the student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale, have attended a minimum of two years (four semesters) of college level work, and have been an active member of an intercollegiate team during his/her last academic year.

"We are excited that we almost doubled the scholar-athletes that were nominated from a year ago and want to thank those colleges and universities that took part in honoring its student-athletes," stated Division II ADA President Ed Matejkovic, director of athletics at West Chester (Pa.) University. "We look forward to more participation in the future and want to congratulate this year's winners."

"This is a tremendous honor for our student-athletes, our university and our conference," said Ferris State Athletics Director Tom Kirinovic.  "The criteria for this award is much higher than most of the academic honors which our student-athletes typically have a chance to receive so for almost 10 percent of our total student-athlete body to receive this recognition is a tremendous feat.

"I also want to applaude our coaches because they're the ones who are responsible for recruiting this high caliber of student-athletes," added Kirinovic, who recently was selected to serve on the 2009-10 DII ADA Board of Directors.   

The DII ADA, which is administered by the National Association of College Directors of Athletics, is the first organization of its kind to provide educational and networking opportunities; enhancement of acceptable operating standards and ethics; and establishment of the overall prestige and understanding of the profession of Division II athletics directors.

2008-09 Ferris State D2 Athletic Directors Association Achievement Award Winners 

  Note - Seven individuals are multi-sport student-athletes and were counted for each sport in the school's overall total.