April 22, 2004
LAS VEGAS -
Sophomore Matt Johnson and junior Heather Walsh were two of the top student-athletes honored at the 25th Annual UNLV Scholar-Athlete Honors Luncheon held at the Richard Tam Alumni Center on UNLV's campus Tuesday.
Johnson, a goalkeeper 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 Bend, Ore., holds an impressive 3.92 GPA in history. After transferring from American University, Johnson played in eight matches for UNLV during the 2003 season. He had a 2.44 goals against average and recorded 26 saves for a .650 percentage last season with one shutout.
Walsh, a junior on the track and field and cross country teams, was the top female student-athlete honored with an outstanding 3.83 GPA in physical education. Walsh is from North Pole, Alaska and transferred to UNLV from Alaska-Anchorage. She finished 50th at the 2003 Mountain West Conference Cross Country Championship and competed at the NCAA West Regional.
Both Johnson and Walsh were among 125 UNLV student-athletes honored at the banquet, which included scholar-athletes from each of the school's 17 intercollegiate sports.
Other athletics department academic achievements announced at the banquet included:
* In fall 2003, 44 percent of UNLV's student-athletes achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better
* Eight of UNLV's sports teams had a term GPA of over a 3.0
* 70 percent of UNLV's teams had a cumulative GPA of 2.8 or greater
* 68 student-athletes were named to the Dean's Honor List.
