5 WOLFPACK ATHLETES NAMED BC CAA ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS
Cari Sutcliffe (left), Danielle Fauteux (middle) and Marleah Oginski (right) are all Academic Excellence Award winners
For release: March 25, 2009
Kamloops, BC—Being a standout in the classroom and on the field or court takes a lot of dedication. Three members of the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women’s soccer team and two players on the WolfPack badminton team have been honoured by the BC Colleges Athletic Association. The five have been given BC CAA Academic Excellence Awards.
Keeper Marleah Oginski (Kamloops, BC), defender Cari Sutcliffe (Kamloops, BC) and forward Danielle Fauteux (Kamloops,BC) along with Brennan Arduini (Kamloops, BC) and Venita Colton (Kamloops, BC) were recognized for taking 27 credits of classes in 2007-08 and the first semester of 2008-09. They had a grade point average of over 3.5.
For Sutcliffe and Arduini, it’s the second straight year that they have received this honor.
Arduini led the way with a G.P.A. of 4.175 with 47 credits in the last year and a half while playing badminton and golf at TRU. “It’s great that the BC CAA also recognizes academic excellence,” he said “It has been more difficult to keep up the good grades with my courses being third year. There are also a lot of Labs involved.”
Arduini is in the Science program. “ I’m doing research this semester along with 6 courses so it is very busy. Third year biology courses require a lot of big written reports and I spend a lot of time researching the literature.”
Colton had a G.P.A. of 4.051 taking 39 credits over the last year and a half in the second year of the science program. “Many students manage getting to the gym regularly while working and going to school,” she says. “This isn’t much different from what I do, although I won’t deny it can get tough trying to balance a job, school and as a Girl Guide leader on the side.”
Oginski is into the fourth and final year of a Bachelor of Business Administration majoring in accounting. She has a G.P.A. of 3.931 with 30 credits. “ It’s an honor to receive this recognition, “ she says. “As a student athlete, it is nice to know that both areas, school and athletics are valued. I found it quite challenging juggling soccer and school. Both demanded a lot of time and effort as I wanted to give 100 % to both.”
Not only was Fauteux balancing soccer and school, but she has an interior design business on the go as well. “ I’m very excited about finishing my(Science) degree. It has been a long journey.” She states. “It’s nice to be recognised and rewarded for my hard work. I am definitely not a natural straight-A student. I have to work really hard to keep up my GPA. “
As for how she did it, “Soccer definitely fills up the schedule which demands efficient time management. But it really helps relieve pressure and stress to be able to run around for a couple of hours after a long day at school. I say it’s a healthy distraction.”
Fauteux had a GPA of 3.835 with 36 credits taken over the last year and a half.
As for being role models, Oginski says “I think that its something to strive for. To not only be a part of the school’s athletic program, but to also excel in the classroom.”
“I don’t think I’m a role model to my team,” explains Arduini “ But I hope that this shows younger people that you can achieve in school and still play sports.”
While Colton says “ A role model for my team mates? Never considered it. For the community? Sure but not for this. I prefer to think of myself as a role model to the five and six year old “Sparks” in the Girl Guide unit I help out with.”
For Fauteux, she looks at the honor as a big pat on the back. “You don’t always get rewarded for the good things that you do. So, it feels really great that the tail end of my degree was a success and my hard work paid off.”
The five athletes will be given certificates of recognition at the WolfPack Athletics Award Banquet, April 9 th at the Campus Activity Center.