Tulane Honors Student-Athletes at 2007 Athletic Banquet
Apr 24, 2007 | General
April 23, 2007
New Orleans - The Tulane University athletics department honored its 2006-07 student-athletes at its annual athletic banquet at the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life on Sunday night.
The athletic banquet was a joint effort with Tulane athletics staff and the department's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), which is composed of 21 current Green Wave student-athletes.
Each of Tulane's five head coaches gave out team awards and discussed their respective seasons, and TU's 2006-07 senior class was also honored for their contributions both on and off the playing field during their careers as a Green Wave student-athlete.
Tulane also presented specialty awards, including the Tulane Male and Female Scholar Athletes of the Year and the Tulane Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year.
The Male and Female Scholar Athletes of the Year is awarded to the male and female student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade point average after at least three semesters at Tulane University., while the Male and Female Student-Athlete award was based on performance.
This year's recipient for Female Scholar Athlete of the Year was a sophomore volleyball athlete, Ashley Bernards. A finance major from McMinnville, Oregon, Bernards boasts a current GPA of 3.958, but more importantly carried a 4.0 GPA through her first 50 credits of college through her freshman year. Bernards is on the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and a Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Medal award winner.
This past season, she played 18 games in eight matches as a defensive specialist. She picked up an assist against UMKC with a season-high two aces, and a pair of aces versus New Orleans. Her career-high 14 digs came in Tulane's five-game win over UNO. She also posted seven digs against Iowa at the Hawkeye Holiday Inn Challenge.
Senior football athlete Shane Hannabury was the 2007 recipient for Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. A finance major and native of East Hampton, N.Y., Hannabury sports a current GPA of 3.945 and has registered a 4.0 average in four of his seven semesters at Tulane. He is a Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Medal Award winner.
Hannabury was a tight end on the football team during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
This year's female athlete of the year is a senior exercise and sports science major from Houston, Texas. Gloria Asumnu, a member of the Green Wave women's track and field team, broke her own school records in the 55 meters (6.90 seconds), 60 meters (7.22 seconds) and 200 meters (23.72 seconds). She has set two school records and finished first and second in 60 meters and 200 meters, respectively, at the Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championship. She also helped the 4x400-meter relay team to a third-place finish at the Championship and was awarded the "Performance of the Meet".
Asumnu claimed fourth place at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 7.22 seconds in the 60 meters, and became the first Green Wave track and field athlete since 2001 to earn All-American honors. She still has a year of eligibility remaining in indoor track.
This year's Male Athlete of the Year was junior football athlete Matt Forte, who is a finance major from nearby Slidell, La. This past year, Forte was a third team All-Conference USA performer after leading the team in rushing and was third in receiving despite missing the final three games with an injury,
He rushed for 859 yards and eight touchdowns on 163 carries, and posted 29 receptions for 360 years and two touchdowns. He completed the year ranked fourth in C-USA with 95.4 yards per game. He was named C-USA/Louisiana Sports Writers Association Offensive Player of the Week for his 170-yard rushing effort at Mississippi State. He rushed for 100 or more yards five times this season, including four straight.
The Tulane volleyball squad was named the SAAC Team of the Year for their hard work in the classroom, around the Tulane campus and New Orleans community and for their performance on the court.
Players Mentioned
