BATON ROUGE, La.- The Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes honored six student-athletes for their academic achievements and community service for the month of February.
Each month, five student-athletes are recognized for their academic improvement, dedication and proven ability. In addition, one student-athlete is chosen through LSU’s Student-Athlete Affairs program for their volunteerism and commitment to the community.
February’s student-athletes of the month are Jonathan Rucker [Football], Willie Allen [Football], Jaelyn Richard-Harris [Women’s Basketball], Kathleen Gallagher [Women’s Golf] and Juan Celaya-Hernandez [Men’s Swimming and Diving]. Christian Johnson [Men’s Track and Field] was selected as the Shaquille O’Neal Life Skills Program Student-Athlete of the Month.
Rucker is an Interdisciplinary Studies major; Allen is undecided on his major; Richard-Harris is a Psychology Major; Gallagher is a Marketing major; Celaya-Hernandez is a Civil Engineering major and Johnson is a Biology major.
Rucker is a junior out of Ponchatoula, Louisiana. He’s a linebacker, but in his time at LSU he has lined up at fullback, as well. He also participates on the special teams unit. He recorded seven tackles during the 2016 football season.
Allen is a freshman offensive lineman. The River Ridge, Louisiana native redshirted this past season as a freshman and is looking to make an impact on the field next year. In high school, he earned First Team Defense All-USA Louisiana honors and he anchored an offensive line that was key in a running attack that gained 2,622 yards.
Richard-Harris is a freshman on the women’s basketball team and she has made her presence known this season. As a recruit, she came to LSU having already accomplished a lot and so far, this season she has participated in 25 out of the 26 games they have played. The Houston, Texas native has mainly been a role player for the Lady Tigers this season and she has continued to improve as the season has gone on.
Gallagher is a sophomore from Greenwood, Mississippi. During her freshman season, she was one of just four LSU women’s golfers to post a 69 throughout the season. During the past fall, she played her best golf late in tournaments as she never shot over a 74 in the second and third rounds over the course of three events. She has one top ten finish so far in her career and that came in the 2016 Silverado Showdown.
Celaya-Hernandez is a freshman diver from San Nicolas de los Garza, Mexico. He was a 13-time Mexican junior national champion and he was a two-time Pan American junior national champion on one-meter and three-meter diving competing with the Mexican national team.
Johnson was selected as the Shaquille O’Neal Life Skills Program Student-Athlete of the Month for her dedication to the community, participating in numerous service events throughout his LSU career. He is a junior distance runner for the men’s track and field team. A Baton Rouge native, Johnson competes in the 1500 meter, mile, steeplechase, and 5000 meter. He is a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member. As one of the best steeplechase runners in the SEC he has a career best time of 9:09.12. At the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships he finished in 13th place in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
For putting forth extra effort in the classroom and community in addition to their rigorous academic and competition schedules, these six student-athletes will have their pictures displayed on the wall in the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes.
The Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes is a 54,000 square foot facility comprised of an academic affairs, student affairs and an information technology team, serving more than 530 student-athletes. The purpose is to provide an all-inclusive, student-centered support structure for all student-athletes from matriculation, through graduation and life beyond.