Cross, Whitehead earn OVC academic honor

Southeast Missouri State University's Jen Cross and Brian Whitehead are among the six Ohio Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Award winners for 2004-05, the league announced Wednesday.

The award is the highest individual honor that can be earned by OVC student-athletes, and is given annually to three men and three women (juniors or seniors) for their accomplishments in both academics and athletics, and because of their leadership qualities.

The six winners were selected from a group of 17 finalists by a vote of the OVC faculty athletics representatives. Honorees must have performed athletically with distinction, earned at least a 3.25 grade point average, and conducted themselves in a manner which has brought credit to the student-athlete, his or her institution, intercollegiate athletics and the OVC.

Cross, a senior, was a four-year starter on defense for the Southeast soccer team and earned an all-OVC honorable mention honor. The St. Louis native has maintained a 4.0 grade point average while majoring in education and has been chosen to the Academic All-District team for each of the last three years.

A member of the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the past two years, Cross currently serves as SAAC president, and in that role, represented the university at the 2003 NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Conference. A student-athlete mentor and active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and several national honor societies, Cross also volunteers with a number of community programs in the Cape Girardeau area.

Whitehead, also a senior, recently completed his fourth cross country season at Southeast and is beginning his fourth track season. He earned first team all-OVC cross country honors in 2003. Whitehead has begun a master's program after graduating magna cum laude last year with a 3.79 GPA in environmental science.

A student ambassador, Whitehead has also been an active leader in the university's student government, serving one year as a senator and two as treasurer. He currently sits on the university's judicial board and is a member of several committees.

Other OVC Scholar-Athlete Award winners: Erica Gerth (volleyball) and Aaron Grobengieser (track) of Eastern Illinois, Rebecca Remington (basketball) of Murray State and Brady Wahlberg (football) of Tennessee-Martin.