BATON ROUGE – LSU recognized some of the school’s outstanding academic achievements by its student-athletes during the 2010 calendar year on Sunday night at the annual Tiger Athletic Foundation Academic Excellence Gala, which was held at the Maravich Center.
LSU honored a total of 199 student-athletes for achievement in the classroom during the 2010 academic year. To be listed as a recipient of the LSU scholar-athlete award, a student must be either a member of the LSU Director’s Cup or the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
A total of 92 LSU student-athletes earned their degree in 2010, with 11 of those being Master’s Degrees. LSU student-athletes also spent a combined 2,600 hours of community service in the Baton Rouge and surrounding areas.
Individually, Matt Vieke of the men’s swimming and diving team and Laura Carleton of the track and field team were named the 2010 TAF Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
Vieke, a junior from Indianapolis, has a 4.0 grade point average in management. He’s a two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll as well as a two-time recipient of the Director’s Cup for Academic Excellence.
Carleton, a junior from Lake Charles, La., maintains a 4.0 grade point average in management. She’s also twice been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll as well as being a two-time recipient of the Director’s Cup for Academic Excellence.
Carleton and Vieke were also recognized as two of the four winners of the Wally Pontiff, Jr., Academic Excellence Award. Joining Vieke and Carleton was Cullen Doody (track and field) with a 3.902 gpa in biological sciences and Laust Helmig (swimming and diving) with a 3.971 gpa in economics. The Wally Pontiff, Jr., Academic Excellence Award goes to those student-athletes who are in their third year at LSU and have a 3.9 grade point average or better.
Two student-athletes were honored with the Bengal Belles Academic Excellence Award, which is a post-graduate award given to those students who earned their degree before exhausting their athletic eligibility. That list included Brian Leveille (men’s golf) and Alex Farrer (men’s basketball).
Mikie Mahtook of the baseball team was named the recipient of the Eye of the Tiger Award, which goes annually to the student-athlete who overcomes adversity in their life to succeed both in the classroom and in competition.
For the third straight year, the LSU women’s soccer team was honored as the winner of the Tiger Cup, which goes to the team that combined to be the most productive in the areas of on-field success, academic accomplishment and community service participation.
The recipient of the Tiger Cup is determined by combining a team’s final conference and national ranking on the field with its cumulative grade-point average and community service hours accumulated off the field during the previous academic year. The soccer team was also the Tiger Cup recipient in 2008 and 2009.
Individually, Walter Henning of the track and field team and Susan Jackson of the gymnastics squad were named the 2010 TAF Male and Female Athletes of the Year. Henning won the NCAA title in both the weight throw and the hammer throw, becoming the first LSU Tiger to win both events. Henning also swept the SEC Indoor and Outdoor titles for the second straight year in 2010.
Jackson capped her remarkable LSU career by becoming only the second gymnast in school history to win two NCAA titles in the same season. Jackson was also named the SEC Female Athlete of the Year becoming just the second LSU Tiger to receive the league’s highest honor.
Durand “Rudy” Macklin was named the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. Macklin led LSU basketball to new heights during his career, helping the Tigers to a Final Four appearance in 1981 after reaching the Elite Eight the year before. Macklin was named the 1981 SEC Player of the Year and was a two-time All-America for the Tigers. He capped his career as the second-leading scorer in school history, trailing only Pete Maravich, and as the school’s all-time leader in rebounds.
Macklin graduated from LSU with a degree in general studies and currently works for the state of Louisiana as the Executive Director of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports.
Esperanza “Espe” Moran was named the recipient of the Augie Cross Memorial Award and Markham McKnight was TAF’s 2010 Hall of Distinction inductee. Moran started the North Louisiana Bengal Belle Chapter in 2009 and currently serves as its chairman.
McKnight graduated with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from LSU. He’s been part of numerous committees at LSU and was awarded the 1995 General Studies Alumnus of the Year from the school. He currently serves on the TAF Executive Committee.