16 Athletes Named to the Inaugural UAA Presidents Scholar-Athlete Team

June 17 - (ROCHESTER, N.Y.) - Carnegie Mellon University had 16 student-athletes named to the first annual University Athletic Association (UAA) Presidents Scholar-Athlete Team, as announced be the league’s office late Monday, June 15.  Seven football players, three soccer players, three cross country and track and field runners, two swimming and diving athletes and one golfer from Carnegie Mellon received the prestigious honor along with 71 other student-athletes representing all eight UAA member institutions across 11 men’s sports and nine women’s sports.  

To achieve this recognition, a student-athlete must earn first-team All-UAA honors and must carry a 3.50 or greater cumulative grade-point average during the playing season. Of the 88 honorees in the inaugural group, six earned All-Association first-team honors in more than one sport and eight were named the most outstanding performer or most valuable player in their sport by the respective UAA coaches’ group.

“The UAA President’s Scholar-Athlete Award recognizes the best of the best, the cream of the crop,” Director of Athletics Susan Bassett said.  “We are extremely proud of the honored Tartans who excel in the classroom and in athletics competition.  They reflect the best ideals of the scholar-athlete.”

Tartan senior Brian Harvey (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) was one of the honorees for multiple sports, as he earned first-team recognition in cross country and in track and field.  Two Carnegie Mellon athletes, juniors Ricky Griffin (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y./Hastings) and Matt Kuhn (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), were among the eight who were named the most outstanding performer or most valuable player in their sport.

Griffin was the Co-Player of the Year in men’s soccer after leading the league with 17 goals and 41 points in 2008.  Kuhn, a member of the swimming and diving team, was honored as Men's Diver of the Year after winning the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events at the UAA Championships.

The UAA Presidents Council established this special recognition at its recent spring meeting.  The original recommendation to establish this honor came from the UAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was supported by the UAA Athletic Administrators Committee and Delegates Committee.

The UAA has recognized exceptional academic achievement by its student-athletes since 1998 when the UAA Presidents Council established a program of All-Academic Recognition for student-athletes who carry a cumulative grade-point average that meets the threshold for Academic All-America recognition (currently a 3.30 GPA).  On average, approximately 58 percent of eligible sophomore, junior, and senior student-athletes from UAA member teams have met that threshold each year.  “While our student-athletes appreciated the All-Academic Recognition, they sought something that would more directly recognize the combination of academic and athletic excellence that is at the core of the UAA philosophy,” commented UAA Executive Secretary Dick Rasmussen.  “In proposing the concept of the award, one of our SAAC members suggested — as UAA student-athletes this is what we do, this is who we are.”

As a group, UAA student-athletes and teams have consistently demonstrated high levels of both academic and athletic achievement.  The UAA Presidents Scholar-Athlete Team recognition demonstrates these principles at the level of the individual student-athlete.

Since its inception 23 years ago, 448 student-athletes from UAA institutions have been recognized as Academic All-Americans, and 129 have been named NCAA Postgraduate Scholars.  More than 1,900 UAA student-athletes have received All-America honors and 125 have been individual national champions or national players of the year in their sports.  Teams representing UAA institutions have won 32 national championships in eight sports.  

Biennial studies completed by the Association over the last 12 years have consistently shown the cumulative grade-point averages of athletic teams to be statistically equal to or greater than the campus population GPA. In the most recent study, covering the 2006-07 academic year, 48 percent of all women’s teams and 43 percent of all men’s teams across the UAA had average cumulative GPA’s equal to or higher than the overall averages for their respective campuses.

The full list of Carnegie Mellon student-athletes that were honored is listed below.

Brian Harvey – SR – Ellicott City, Md. (Centennial) – Men’s Cross Country, Track & Field
Ramsey Arnold – SR – Rocky River, Ohio (Rocky River) – Football
Clay Crites – SR – Tuscarawas, Ohio (Indian Valley) – Football
Brian Freeman – SR – Independence, Ohio (Padua Franciscan) – Football
Richard Pattison – SO – Rocky River, Ohio (Rocky River) – Football
Anthony Ruzga – SO – Lake Geneva, Wis. (Badger) – Football
Jon Scholl – SR – Coraopolis, Pa. (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) – Football
Derek Wisnieski – SR – Indiana, Pa. (Indiana Area) – Football
Christopher Lee – JR – Los Angeles, Calif. (Windward) – Golf
Ryan Browne – JR – Pittsburgh, Pa. (Thomas Jefferson) – Men’s Soccer
Ricky Griffin* – JR – Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. (Hastings) – Men’s Soccer
Keith Haselhoff – JR – White Oak, Pa. (McKeesport) – Men’s Soccer
Matt Kuhn* – JR – Pittsburgh, Pa. (North Allegheny) – Men’s Swimming & Diving
Tom McConnell – SR – Baltimore, Md. (Friends School of Balt.) – Men’s Swimming & Diving
Chris Bogie – JR – Darien, Conn. (Darien) – Men’s Track & Field
Nate Bussiere – SO – Canton, Conn. (Canton) – Men’s Track & Field