(MSUB Athletics release)
PORTLAND, Ore. – Being recognized within an elite group of scholars for the 2017-18 academic year, a total of 13 Montana State University Billings student-athletes received the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Faculty Athletic Representative Scholar Athlete Award announced by the conference office on Thursday.
FAR Scholar Athlete award status is reserved for men and women who maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.85 or higher while competing in a varsity sport. Among MSUB’s honorees were 10 female athletes and three male athletes.
Standing out as one of just 13 athletes – seven men and six women – in the conference to be a four-time FAR Scholar Athlete award winner was recent MSUB women’s golf graduate Bailee Dexter. On the heels of Women’s Golf Coaches Association Academic All-American status, Dexter completed her degree in English with a 3.97 GPA. Hailing from Townsend, Montana, she led the Yellowjackets on the course last spring, with a team-best scoring average of 80.2 strokes per round.
The highest GPA among Yellowjackets was a perfect 4.00 maintained by baseball senior Jarod Paul, who recently completed his degree in health and human performance. Paul was a first baseman on the team who appeared in 21 games during his final collegiate season.
MSUB’s other two male recipients were also baseball players, with junior pitcher Jared Winslow and sophomore pitcher Sam Muskat receiving the honor as well. A starter in MSUB’s rotation, Winslow ranked second on the team with 52 innings pitched while striking out 36 batters last spring. The Libby, Montana native has a 3.94 GPA and is pursuing a degree in health and human performance. Muskat filled a key role with 35 2/3 innings mostly out of the bullpen, as he appeared in 16 total games in his second year with the ‘Jackets. The Beaverton, Oregon native holds a 3.95 GPA and is a political science major.
The Yellowjackets’ women’s soccer team highlighted the university’s 10 female recipients, with six players on its roster being recognized. Juniors Lili Delgadillo and Jordan Devoto, and sophomores Amanda Hemmen, Rachel Lythgoe, Kalin Sandow, and Courteney Shovlin all appeared on the list of award winners.
Delgadillo enters her final year as a Yellowjacket with a 3.94 GPA while Devoto carries a 3.97 GPA with each studying health and human performance. Delgadillo of Vancouver, Washington enters her final collegiate season having played in 25 games and made 114 saves so far through three years between the posts. Devoto is a forward from Wilsall, Montana who has scored four goals and added a pair of assists in her 37 career games played.
Hemmen had MSUB’s top female GPA at 4.00 in biology, while Lythgoe was close behind with a 3.98 in English. The former, from Renton, Washington, was an honorable mention all-GNAC center back in 2016 and has played in 32 games with one goal in her first two seasons at MSUB. Lythgoe, from Gilbert, Arizona, has seen time in 20 games as a defender and midfielder.
Both first-time honorees, Shovlin and Sandow have GPAs of 3.89 in history and 3.86 in psychology, respectively. The duo has served on the defensive unit each of the last two seasons, with Sandow of Murrieta, California starting all 34 matches and Shovlin of Great Falls, Montana starting 32 since the start of the 2016 campaign.
Representing MSUB’s cross country and track and field teams were sophomore Abbie Lohof with a 3.91 GPA in elementary education, and freshman Jerrica Martin with a 3.87 GPA in outdoor adventure leadership. A member of MSUB’s throws squad, Lohof of Laurel, Montana placed 13th in the discus at the GNAC Championships last spring with a career-best throw of 36.77 meters. From Livingston, Montana, Martin competed in both cross country and track and field in her first year at MSUB.
Also recognized was sophomore Jeanann Lemelin of the women’s basketball team, who holds a 3.92 GPA while studying public relations. The Billings native helped the Yellowjackets capture their second-ever NCAA Division II West Region Championships title, and advance to the Elite Eight during an historic 2017-18 season.
A total of 207 student-athletes, including 141 females and 66 males were recognized by the conference office for their outstanding academic achievement during the 2017-18 academic year. It is the second straight year a record has been set for FAR Scholar Athlete award winners. For more information on the GNAC visit www.gnacsports.com.
