May 22, 2009
Baylor's 2009 Spring Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll Members 
Baylor placed a school-record 223 student-athletes on the spring 2009 Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll, including 31 who registered perfect 4.0 term grade-point averages. It marked the fourth consecutive semester more than 200 BU student-athletes earned Commissioner's Honor Roll status and the 2008-09 academic year total of 462 Big 12 honorees was also a school record.
"Baylor student-athletes have achieved an unprecedented level of academic accomplishment with this year's record-setting performance," said Baylor Director of Athletics Ian McCaw. "Maintaining a GPA for the year above 3.0 is truly outstanding and a credit to our student-athletes, coaches, academic support staff and the faculty."
Baylor student-athletes registering a 4.00 grade-point average during the spring 2009 semester included: Kaitlyn Amos (women's soccer), Lyndsy Bedell (women's track & field), Kathryn Benvegnu (women's track & field), Kolt Browder (baseball), Matt Brown (men's tennis), Nicole Brown (equestrian), Josh Camp (men's track & field), Morgan Chambers (women's golf), Andrew Cooley (baseball), Gwen Corches (men's tennis), Nick Florence (football), Leon Freeman (football), Carla Grace (women's track & field), Joseph Hawkins (men's track & field), Whitney Howard (women's track & field), Brittany Hunemuller (women's soccer), Bethany Johnston (women's soccer), Tyler King (football), Ashley Korol (women's track & field), Caroline Korsawe (women's tennis), Lucy Quintana (women's soccer), Lindsay Palmer (women's basketball), Diamond Richardson (women's track & field), Logan Roberts (men's track & field), Jordan Rux (men's tennis), Chris Slater (baseball), Caitlyn Trice (volleyball), Renae Van Wyhe (women's track & field), Nicole Wesley (softball), Tiffany Wesley (softball) and Cate Westenhover (women's track & field).
Acknowledging all student-athletes, the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll is an inclusive honor for varsity sports sponsored by the league membership. The Honor Roll is recorded and released each semester and recognizes those student-athletes who had a 3.00 or better grade-point average in the previous semester. More than 3,000 student-athletes each semester have been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll in the league's 13-year history.
The cumulative grade-point average of all Baylor student-athletes for the spring 2009 semester was a 3.03, which marked the second consecutive semester their cumulative GPA topped the 3.0 mark. The 2008 fall and 2009 spring semesters mark the only time in Big 12 history that Baylor's cumulative student-athlete GPA was above a 3.00. All-told, Baylor had 72 student-athletes on the spring Dean's List, which is awarded to students with a 3.7 GPA, enrolled in at least 12 hours and make no grade lower than a C.
A school-record tying 11 Baylor teams registered a term cumulative grade-point average of at least a 3.00, led by the Big 12 champion men's tennis team's 3.46 mark. The Lady Bear softball team, which is playing in an NCAA Super Regional for the third time in school history, had a 3.44 term grade-point average while the 2009 Big 12 champion women's tennis team came in at 3.40 for the spring semester. Each of those NCAA Tournament qualifying teams established an all-time program best GPA for any semester in the Big 12 era.
"The student-athletes at Baylor University continue to set one of the highest standards in academics at the Division I level," said Baylor's Assistant Athletics Director for Academic Services Bart Byrd. "Each year we challenge our student-athletes on the playing fields and in the classroom. Our teams and student-athletes continue to win athletically and academically.
"For the last six semesters our student-athletes have continued to raise the level of academic performance in the classroom by setting a record for the total number of student-athletes placed on the Big 12 Commissioners Honor Roll each semester," he added. "I believe that our student-athletes truly believe in the academic mission of Baylor University and that they accomplish these these high standards as a result of a true team effort that involves the student-athlete, coaching staffs, professors, tutors and our academic support staff."
Among the 46 Baylor student-athletes who received their degrees during last weekend's commencement exercises in Waco was 14-year NBA veteran David Wesley, who served as an undergraduate student manager for coach Scott Drew's 2009 NIT runner-up basketball team, and three student-athletes who earned master's degrees.
Baylor student-athletes receiving diplomas last weekend were: Bill Allcorn (men's golf), Rachel Allison (women's basketball), James Barnard (football), Lyndsy Bedell (women's track & field), Josh Bookbinder (football), Justin Boyd (men's track & field), Nicole Brown (equestrian), Josh Camp (men's track & field), Casey Cooper (football), Dwain Crawford (football), Matt Crosby (men's golf), Henry Dugat (men's basketball), *Staron Faucher (football), Ty Findley (football), Leon Freeman (football), Hunter Garner (men's track & field), Carla Grace (women's track & field), *Ben Hixson (football), Paul Howard (football), Jodi Hulett (women's track & field), Jeremy Jackson (men's track & field), Quincy Jenkins (football), Curtis Jerrells (men's basketball), Drew Kerr (football), Tyler King (football), Ashley Korol (women's track & field), Justin Luningham (men's tennis), Chase McVicker (men's tennis), Wade Mackey (baseball), Kim Marlowe (equestrian), Maritza Martinez (softball), Jessica Morrow (women's basketball), *Kevin Mutai (men's track & field), Jhasmin Player (women's basketball), Brette Reagan (softball), Kevin Rogers (men's basketball), Sam Shalala (football), Megan Sherrell (women's soccer), Sam Sledge (football), Elena Sutherland (women's soccer), Kaleigh Teel (women's track & field), Brittany Turner (softball), Keegan Vann (football), David Wesley (men's basketball), Aaron Williams (baseball), Rose Zapata (women's soccer).
