St. Louis, Mo. -- The Youngstown State football team had three former student-athlete receive the Missouri Valley Football Conference President's Council Academic Excellence Award, the league announced on Tuesday. Kyle Banna, Stephen Blose and Erik Johnson, all members of the 2010 Penguins, were recipients of the MVFC's highest academic honor.
Overall, a total of 23 student-athletes from the conference's nine schools received the President'a Award. The President's Council Academic Excellence Award requires a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade-point average (through the 2010 fall semester) and participation in athletics a minimum of two years. The student-athlete must be within 18 hours of graduation.
Being selected to receive the Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award, which requires a minimum GPA of 3.2 for the previous two semesters, were Blose, Bobby Coates, Tyler Figueroa, Chris Gammon, Johnson, Marc Kanetsky, D.J. Moss, Dom Rich and Nate Schkurko. A total of 104 student-athletes received the league's Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award.
A total of 52 current and former Penguins made the MVFC's Honor Roll, which recognizes academic achievement of student-athletes. To qualify for the Honor Roll, a student-athlete must have recorded a minimum 3.0 grade point average for a specified term (Fall 2010), must have been a member of an athletics team, and must have a minimum of 12 hours of enrollment during the fall.
PRESIDENTS ACADEMIC AWARD - Kyle Banna; Stephen Blose; Erik Johnson.
COMMISSIONER'S ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARD - Stephen Blose; Bobby Coates; Tyler Figueroa; Chris Gammon; Erik Johnson; Marc Kanetsky; D.J. Moss; Dom Rich; Nate Schkurko.
HONOR ROLL - Nate Adams; Dan Banna; Kyle Banna; Stephen Blose; Robert Coates; Jamaine Cook; Donald D'Alesio; Jacob Dragovich; Ely Ducatel; Draye Ersery; Dan Fernback; Rob Fernback; Tyler Figueroa; Jaimie Frasure; Chris Gammon; Vance Gibbs; Bob Gratz; Julian Harrell; Fred Herdman; Kurt Hess; Taylor Hill; Gannon Hulea; Andrew Johnson; Kevin Johnson; Erik Johnson; Marc Kanetsky; Zach Larson; Nick Liste; D.J.Main; Jermaine Martin; Lucas Matelan; Brian Mellott; D.J. Moss; Torrance Nicholson; Ben Nowicki; Torrian Pace; Stephen Page; Aaron Pitts; Dom Rich; Eric Rodemoyer; Matt Romeo; Greg Sazdanoff; Nate Schkurko; Jabari Scott; Andrew Sinko; Ethan Slark; Jake Smith; Kevin Smith; Marc Stevens; Rob Stupar; Deonta Tate; A.J. Zitello.
