STUDENT ATHLETE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS



SMU TRACK: Fjortoft Earns Additional Academic Honor

SMU sophomore cross country and track standout Silje Fjortoft was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District women's track & field/cross country team. Fjortoft, who earlier this week earned her first C-USA Track & Field All-Academic honor, was also chosen to the C-USA and USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Academic teams and was named the C-USA Cross Country Athlete of the Year this season.

Two SMU Football Players Named to National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame's 2009 Hampshire Honor Society

SMU graduates and 2008 lettermen Thomas Morstead and Tommy Poynter have been inducted into the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame's 2009 Hampshire Honor Society. Qualifications for membership in the NFF Honor Society include: Being a starter or a significant substitute in one's last year of eligibility at an accredited NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III, or an NAIA college or university; Achieving a 3.2 cumulative grade point average throughout entire course of undergraduate study; and Meeting all NCAA-mandated progress towards degree requirements.

Morstead graduated from SMU as one of the best punters to ever put on a Mustang uniform. He earned his degree in mechanical engineering and was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Poynter joined the Mustangs as a walk-on in 2004 and earned a full scholarship after a year on the field. The three-year starter earned his undergraduate degree in accounting at SMU and is currently working toward an MBA.



CONFERENCE USA SCHOLAR ATHLETE AWARDS ANNOUNCED

Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky announced today the recipients of the 2008-09 Scholar Athlete of the Year Awards, as approved by the Board of Directors. The award is based on academic achievement (GPA), athletic achievement and service. The following students represent SMU:

Kate Ackerson*, SMU                  Women's Golf

Petra Klosova, SMU                     Women's Swimming & Diving

Natalia Bubien, SMU                  Women's Tennis

* Repeat winner



Mustang Golfers Honored

CORAL SPRINGS, Florida (NGCA/SMU) - Mustang women's golfers Kate Ackerson, Alexis Bennett, Jennifer Hooper and Kalie Presti have been named National Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholars, the organization announced today. The foursome was among 410 women's collegiate golfers at the Division I, II & III levels recognized with this prestigious honor.

The criteria for selection to the All-American Scholar Team are some of the most stringent in all of college athletics. The minimum cumulative GPA is 3.50 and student-athletes must have competed in at least 50% of the college's regularly-scheduled competitive rounds during the year.