April 16, 2007

LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball redshirt freshman Kyle Kretchmer was named the school's Most Oustanding Male Scholar-Athlete at the 28th Annual UNLV Scholar-Athlete Honors Luncheon held at the Richard Tam Alumni Center on UNLV's campus Monday.

Kretchmer, a native of Carmel, Calif., was joined by UNLV women's swimmer Kim Bonney, who was named the Most Outstanding Female Scholar-Athlete, as the top award recepiants at the luncheon. The award was presented to the male and female student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade point average who had completed at least one academic year at UNLV.

Kretchmer, who sat out the 2005-06 baseball season as a medical redshirt, sits academically as a sophomore. So far in his first baseball season, he has seen action in 13 games and posted a batting average of .235. Kretchmer has a cumulative GPA of 3.91 and is a kinesiological sciences major.

Bonney, a native of Cape Town, South Africa, is a repeat winner of the award, as she has now won it in consecutive years. She joined the 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. Over the past two years, she has a total of nine top-eight finishes at the MWC Championships, including a runner-up finish in the 200-yard IM (2:03.55) at the 2005 championships. Bonney has a 3.89 cumulative GPA and is majoring in accounting and management.

A total of 130 student-athletes were honored for achieving GPAs of 3.0 or higher in the Mountain West Conference and the Mountain Pacific Soccer Federation (men's soccer).

There were 35 student-athletes recognized for being named to the Mountain West Conference's Scholar-Athlete Award list for having a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or greater in at least two semesters at UNLV.

Thirty-nine individuals were honored as members of the Rebel Top 10 for attaining a GPA which places them in the top 10 percent of all student-athletes. The award is based on cumulative GPA's of all student-athletes who have completed one full academic year at UNLV.

"UNLV athletics is committed to not only winning on the playing field, but winning in the classroom," said UNLV Athletics Director Mike Hamrick. "Today's student-athletes are more conscious of their studies and understand that graduating from UNLV will only help them in the future. We at UNLV would like to win every championship possible, but first and foremost, we want our student-athletes to get a quality education."

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.

Baseball - Kyle KretchmerWomen's Basketball - Brittany HalbergMen's Basketball - Michael UmehWomen's Golf - Da Sol ChungFootball - Jacob HalesSoftball - Caitlyn PausMen's Golf - Matt KinsingerWomen's Tennis - Claire SmithMen's Soccer - Mason TraffordWomen's Track/Cross Country - Olivia RayaMen's Swimming - Johan ClaarVolleyball - Erin GreenwoodMen's Tennis - Wesley BurrowsWomen's Swimming - Kim BonneyWomen's Soccer - Haley Partridge