Southeast pays tribute to top student-athletes

~ Blake, Blunt and Magana won awards for having the highest GPAs among seniors.

Sandy Blake, Rachel Blunt and Kendall Magana were not only three of Southeast Missouri State's top athletes during their four-year collegiate careers, but they also were among the university's premier students.

Blake, Blunt and Magana were rewarded for their excellence in the classroom Tuesday night at Southeast's All Sports Year-End Celebration.

The trio took home top honors at the Show Me Center for being the senior female and male athletes with the highest career grade-point averages.

Blake, a gymnast, and Blunt, a basketball player, both have perfect 4.0 GPA's as they shared the Trombetta Award.

"It's not really the awards you go for, but it's nice," said Blake, majoring in accounting.

Added Blunt, a sport management major: "I can remember sitting here as a freshman thinking it would be neat to win this. It was my goal."

Magana, carrying a 3.735 GPA in business management organizational leadership, received the Jewel Award.

"It's a cool accomplishment, just to see the hard work the last four years has paid off," Magana said.

Blake, a native of Washington state, ranks among the top gymnasts in Southeast history.

A regional qualifier all four years, Blake was the all-around alternate for the 2008 national championship meet.

Blake found enough time around her gymnastics training to earn third-team Academic All-American honors in 2008 and she stands a good chance of repeating as an Academic All-American this year.

"It gets hard sometimes," Blake said of juggling athletics and academics. "You just have to manage your time well, have inner drive and have teammates to push you."

Blake, who will graduate next year, said she never started her college career shooting for a perfect GPA.

But Blake added that, after a while, "it became a goal."

Blunt, a forward from Dexter, Mo., who was a part of three Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship teams, along with two squads that appeared in the NCAA tournament, said she always had her eyes on GPA perfection.

"It was a goal, but once you got on a roll you feel a little more pressure," said Blunt, who added that academics was always stressed in her family.

Bunt is scheduled to graduate later this month, after which she will continue her education with an eye on becoming an athletic administrator on the college level.

Magana, a defensive back from Arlington, Texas, was among Southeast's leading tacklers the past three seasons and finished his career with five interceptions.

Magana said he always has tried to excel both on the field and in the classroom.

"Athletics and academics have always been a priority for me," he said.

The religious Magana, who will graduate in the fall but might continue his education after that, said he has thought about going into campus ministry.