April 11, 2002
LAS VEGAS - Junior Tuomas Talvio and sophomore Bridgette Byrne were two of the top student-athletes honored at the 23rd Annual UNLV Scholar-Athlete Honors Luncheon held at the Richard Tam Alumni Center Thursday afternoon.
Talvio, a forward on the men's soccer team, was commended for being the top male student-athlete at the university with the highest grade-point average. The native of Helsinki, Finland, holds an impressive 3.93 GPA in finance. With four game-winning goals in his career, Talvio will be one of the Rebels' top returning starters in the fall.
Byrne, a local Las Vegas softball standout from Silverado High School, was the top female student-athlete honored with an outstanding 3.93 GPA. She is a member of the UNLV Honors College and an undeclared major. An outfielder for the Rebels, Byrne has started and played in all 48 games of the current 2002 season with a .963 fielding percentage.
Both Talvio and Byrne were among 130 UNLV student-athletes honored at the banquet, which included scholar-athletes from each of the school's 17 intercollegiate sports.
UNLV junior offensive lineman Tony Terrell (Lawndale, Calif.) was also selected as the school's first representative to attend the sixth annual NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference on May 26-30 in Orlando, Fla. A member of the Student Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB) and one of the most active student-athletes on campus, Terrell was one-of-four nominees to be considered to represent UNLV at the conference.
