Pirate athletes wow locally and abroad

The AASU athletic department placed 77 student athletes on the Peach Belt Conference's (PBC) Presidential Honor Roll for 2009-10. Setting the AASU school record, as announced by PBC officials. Student athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher for the entire 2009-10 academic year to be honored.

The number eclipses the previous high of 74 honorees during the 2006-07 year. Four seniors finished their AASU careers by being named to the Honor Roll four times. They were women's soccer player Kristin Burton, volleyball player Nicole Yates, and women's tennis players Martina Beckmann and Alisa Kagukina.

In all, 1,080 student athletes were named to the PBC Presidential Honor Roll from the 13 league schools.

For the third straight year, the honor roll has been divided into four groups: Presidential Scholars, Bronze Scholars, Silver Scholars and Gold Scholars. All student athletes with a GPA of 3.00 to 3.24 are Presidential Scholars, while Bronze Scholars are 3.25 to 3.49, Silver 3.50 to 3.74 and the Gold scholars are those with a 3.75 to 4.00 GPA.

AASU's PBC Presidential Honor Roll honorees for 2008-09 are: (Times named to the Honor Roll are in parenthesis)

Gold Scholars: Heather Echols, Torrie Bevolo (2), Amy Birkemeier (2), Gwendolyn Clarke (4), Casey Howett (2), Leia Pittman, Portia Jones (3), Kelli Bahr (3), Kristin Burton (4), Daviana Garcia (2), Elizabeth Kerkoff (3), Kristina Pascutti, Alisa Kagukina (4), Alida Muller-Wehlau (4).

Silver Scholars: Joshua Heath (3), Chris Rabe, Ryan Smith (2), Tyler Erickson, Matthew Motes (2), David Patterson (3), Shelby Duff, Meagan Qualls, Heather Walker, Brendyce Budd (3), Kathrin Standhardinger, Kimberly Knox (2), Kelly Pearce, Emily Cattanach, Tracey Mitchell (3), Carey Patterson (2), Kathleen Henry (2).

Bronze Scholars: Chris Base, Carlos Cardoza-Oquendo (3), Thomas Gray (2), Brandon McCreery (3), Bryan Roby (2), Austin Edens, Johnathan Prussia, Marc Savioli, Jacob Tilton, Eudaldo Bonet, Daniel Regan, Michele Remlinger, Briana McFarland, Erin O'Rourke (2), Bjorg Magnea Olafs (2), Madison Reed, Kyndal Schaff, Martina Beckmann (4).

Presidential Scholars: Ben Jackson (2), Jesse Osborne, Michael Price, Cameron Scott, Auston Thomas, Christopher Walker, Grant Domsic, Zach Corliss (2), Dustin Allen, Mark Rocker, Mikk Irdoja (2), Ashley Buckett, Alisa Malte, Natalie Edgeworth, Marina Marinova (2), Nicole Yates (4), Arpine Amirkhanyan, Ashley Slade, Dartayvia Thomas (2), Victoria Bennett, Alyssa Anderson (2), Danielle Fey, Jessica Flores (2), Samantha Held (3), Brooke Lamberth, Morgan Mitchell, Amber Raney, Sona Novakova (2).