July 20, 2010

Irving, Texas -

The University of Memphis women’s golf and baseball programs have each received the Conference USA Sport Academic Award, as announced by the league office Tuesday. The Sport Academic Award is given to the team in each conference-sponsored sport with the highest GPA for the current academic year.

The women’s golf team posted a team GPA of 3.643 during the 2009-10 academic year, while the baseball squad posted a 3.180 GPA. The Lady Tiger golf team also turned in a 3.8 aggregate GPA for the spring 2010 semester, the highest single semester team GPA in the history of the University of Memphis.

Marissa Steen was previously named to the 2010 C-USA All-Academic team, headlining a group of impressive Lady Tiger student-athletes. Both Steen and fellow rising junior Kathleen Glavin have maintained cumulative GPA’s of above 3.9 in two years at Memphis.

“I’m so proud of my team for who they are as people, students, and golfers,” said Lady Tiger golf head coach Beth Harrelson. “It shows how hard they work on and off the golf course, and it also shows how committed our academic counselor, Jessie Mills, along with Dr. Joe Luckey’s entire staff, is to bringing out the best of our student-athletes.”

Ryan Fraser, Brennon Martin and Chad Zurcher led the baseball squad academically, as each were named to the 2010 C-USA All-Academic team, as selected by the league's baseball sports information directors. Memphis's three All-Academic picks led all C-USA institutions.

Martin headlined Memphis's three selections. Martin is a five-time C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member and was selected the C-USA Pitcher of the Week on March 29. The Memphis, Tenn., native owns a 3.63 GPA in management.

“This academic award is a tribute to the efforts of the players and how diligent they are in the classroom,” said Tiger baseball head coach Daron Schoenrock. “It is also a tribute to Bridget Vanlandeghem, our academic counselor, and Dr. Joe Luckey’s entire staff for the efforts they display throughout the year. I would also like to commend Associate Head Coach Fred Corral for what he has done in overseeing the academic progress of our program”.