Johnson earns OVC Scholar-Athlete Award

Southeast Missouri State University golfer Bryan Johnson has been selected by the Ohio Valley Conference as one of its six Scholar-Athlete Award winners for 2001-02.

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 senior athletes for their accomplishments in both the classroom and athletic arena, and because of their leadership qualities.

The six winners were selected from a group of 13 finalists by a vote of the OVC faculty athletics representatives. Honorees must have performed athletically with distinction, have earned at least a 3.25 grade point average, and have conducted themselves appropriately off the playing field.

Johnson has already been a three-year standout for the Southeast golf team, compiling six top-five finishes. He averaged 74.5 strokes per round in 2001 and became the first Southeast golfer to reach the semifinals of the Missouri State Amateur Tournament while still enrolled in school.

A native of Thayer, Mo., Johnson was chosen as the Indians' team MVP in 2001 and was selected to the All-OVC squad. In the classroom, he has a 3.80 grade point average while majoring in speech communication with a minor in mass communication. He has twice been selected as an Academic All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

Other OVC Scholar-Athlete Award winners are Eastern Kentucky's Zoey Artist (women's basketball), Eastern Kentucky's Brad Morris (golf), Tennessee-Martin's Kelly Pendleton (women's basketball), Tennessee Tech's Grant Swallows (football) and Murray State's Jessica Wood (volleyball).

Among other nominees for the Scholar-Athlete Award was Southeast soccer standout Nichole Thiele.