SEMO ATHLETES SHINE ON, OFF PLAYING FIELD

Southeast Missouri State University's athletes have had their share of success over the years.

But the school's current athletes shine just as much -- if not more -- in the classroom as they do on the field.

Nearly 40 percent of the student-athletes at Southeast have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher and those 96 athletes were honored during Wednesday's annual Southeast Scholar Athlete Luncheon at the Show Me Center.

Also honored were 10 Sundancers (the school's spirit group), six cheerleaders and seven student trainers.

"The fact that nearly 40 percent of our athletes have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher is outstanding," said Southeast athletic director Carroll Williams. "It shows the tremendous dedication of the student athletes and it shows that our coaches are recruiting not just good athletes, but good scholar athletes."

Nine of the student-athletes had perfect 4.0 cumulative grade-point averages: Nathan McGuire and Archie Stambush in baseball; John Litzelfelner in golf; Adam Esterline in football; Carolyn Egbert and Hazel Stricker in gymnastics; Celeste Ramsey and Rebecca Shull in women's track; and Erin Holt in volleyball.

McGuire (Notre Dame), Litzelfelner (Jackson) and Ramsey (Perryville) all attended high schools in the immediate area.

Gymnastics and football had the highest number of Scholar Athletes with 14 while women's track had 13 and softball and volleyball 12 each.

Volleyball had the highest team grade-point average with a 3.642 for the fall semester and a 3.577 cumulative. Gymnastics had a 3.489 GPA in the fall and has a 3.431 cumulative GPA.

The latest NCAA graduation report shows that Southeast athletes graduate at a rate of 53 percent, compared to 37 percent for the student body as a whole.

Seven Southeast athletes also received Ohio Valley Conference Medals of Honor, which go to those who achieve the highest GPA for the 1996-97 school year in an OVC sponsored sport.

Southeast Medal of Honor recipients were Reggie Crisp (men's basketball); Christine Engelhardt and Erin Frazier (softball); Rebecca Shull and Heather Fisher (women's track); and Mandy Edgington and Cathy Prichard (volleyball). All had a 4.0 GPA.

Three athletes were recognized for gaining GTE Academic All-America honors. Engelhardt was a first-team GTE Academic All-American in softball while track athlete Fisher and football punter Justin Terrill were All-District selections.

A complete listing of all the Southeast athletes honored Wednesday appears in `Scoreboard' on page 2B.