May 1, 2006
LAS VEGAS - Senior Romain Massaro and sophomore Kim Bonney led those recognized at the 27th Annual UNLV Scholar-Athlete Honors Luncheon held at the Richard Tam Alumni Center on UNLV's campus Monday.
Massaro was named UNLV's most outstanding male scholar athlete and Bonney was named the most outstanding female scholar athlete, which was awarded to the male and female student-athletes with the highest cumulative GPA who had completed at least one academic year at UNLV.
A native of Paris, France, Massaro posted a personal-best doubles mark of 17-8 this season and finished his career with 47 singles victories. The tennis team's representative on the UNLV Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Massaro is a three-time Academic All-MWC and ITA Scholar-Athlete honoree. Massaro holds a 3.87 GPA in communication studies.
Bonney is from Cape Town, South Africa, who joined the UNLV squad in the 2005 spring semester and made an immediate impact by winning the 2005 Mountain West Conference 200 yard breaststroke title in a time of 2:17.31. That time is the third-fastest in school history. She has a total of six top-eight finishes at the MWC Championships over the past two years, including a runner-up finish in the 200 yard IM at this year's championships with a time of 2:03.55, which is also the third-fastest time in school history. She also ranks seventh all-time in the 100 breast (1:04.29). Bonney has a 3.90 GPA and is a business major.
The past two years have been two of the most successful, both academically and athletically, in UNLV's history.
This past spring UNLV had the highest graduation rate for its student-athletes in school history with 52 percent graduating in May of 2005. Currently more than 88 percent of UNLV student-athletes have a GPA of 2.8 or greater since the fall of 2005 and 18 percent of all student athletes are currently on the dean's list.
On the field those student-athletes helped UNLV win a school-record six Mountain West Conference championships during the 2004-05 academic year.
"This shows that success in competition and academics can go hand-in-hand in college athletics," said UNLV athletics director Mike Hamrick. "We had the highest graduation rate in UNLV history this past fall. We have quality coaches who are committed to academics and winning championships and the past two years we have set records in both."
Also announced at the luncheon were the top sports awards, which were given to the student-athletes with the highest cumulative GPA in their individual sports of those who have completed at least one full academic year at UNLV.
The top sports awards were:
Baseball - Matt LucaMen's Basketball - Robert BerkeyFootball - Jacob HalesMen's Golf - Matt KinsingerMen's Soccer - Mason TraffordMen's Swimming - Adam MartinsonMen's Tennis - Romain MassaroWomen's Soccer - Katie CarneyWomen's Basketball - Sequoia HolmesWomen's Golf - Allison ChellSoftball - Maggie LivreriWomen's Tennis - Claire SmithTrack/CC - Deanna AppugliseWomen's Volleyball - Kortney ReidWomen's Swimming - Kim Bonney
