May 11, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford student-athletes claimed five of the six winter Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, presented by Toyo Tires, the Pacific-10 Conference announced. The awards have been established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.
Among the five Stanford honorees are: Jayne Appel (women's basketball), David Dunford (men's swimming), Landry Fields (men's basketball), Carly Janiga (women's gymnastics) and Jake Johnson (wrestling).
Arizona's Justine Schluntz was awarded the honor for women's swimming.
Appel, a two-time All-America selection for the Cardinal women's basketball team, will graduate this June with a degree in psychology and boasts an overall grade-point average of 3.18. She helped lead the Cardinal to its second national title game appearance in 2009-10, earning State Farm Coaches' All-America Team and All-Pac-10 Team honors.
Dunford, who will graduate with a degree in management science & engineering and a GPA of 3.83, earned five All-America honors at the NCAA Men's Swimming Championships in late March. The senior from Nairobi, Kenya earned All-America honors as part of three Cardinal relay teams (200 Free, 200 Medley, 400 Free) and in two individual events (50 Free, 100 Free).
Fields led the Pac-10 with 22.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in 2009-10, earning selection to the All-Pac-10 Team. He was also named to the USBWA's All-District Team and Fields' 704 points on the year ranks as the third-best in program history, just 30 points short of Adam Keefe's 734 points in 1991-92. Fields, owner of a 3.03 GPA, will graduate with a degree in communication.
A team captain on Stanford's women's gymnastics team that finished fourth at the NCAA Championships in April, Janiga herself earned an individual national title in uneven bars in addition to All-America honors in balance beam and floor exercise. In to her gymnastics achievements, Janiga, a psychology major with a 3.78 GPA, was also named a recipient of an NCAA postgraduate scholarship in early May.
Johnson went 19-17 in his final season on The Farm in 2009-10, placing sixth at the Pac-10 Championships. A management science & engineering major with a 3.44 GPA, Johnson ended his Stanford career with an overall record of 84-51 and as a three-time Pac-10 All-Academic Team selection.
In order to be eligible for the Pac-10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50% of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-10 institution nominates one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-10 staff members at the conclusion of each sport's regular season. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.
A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-10's 22 sponsored sports: baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, football, men's golf, women's golf, women's gymnastics, men's rowing, women's rowing, men's soccer, women's soccer, softball, men's swimming & diving, women's swimming & diving, men's tennis, women's tennis, men's track & field, women's track & field, women's volleyball, and wrestling.
Scholar-Athletes of the Year in each sport will receive a commemorative award. Toyo® will donate $1,000 to the scholarship funds of the institution's athletic department of each winner in recognition of their accomplishments.