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EAU CLAIRE – Steph Barnes and Matt Evensen
are repeat winners to headline the six recipients of the
2007 Blugold Super Six Salute awards.
Joining Barnes (Sauk City/Sauk Prairie High School) and
Evensen (Junction City, WI/Auburndale) as winners of the
university’s highest athletics honor are volleyball
player Shanna Berger (Baldwin, WI/Baldwin-Woodville), track
athlete Liz Faller (Marinette, WI), swimmer Nick Peterson
(Lake Elmo, MN/North St. Paul) and wrestler Lance Valiquette
(Auburn, WA).
The Super Six award, in its 21st year of existence, recognizes
and honors outstanding athletes who have also demonstrated
a high level of proficiency in the classroom. Each year
the award honors three female and three male student-athletes.
These individuals epitomize the ideals of intercollegiate
athletics as an educational experience at UW-EC.
To be nominated for the award, the student-athletes must
have completed their junior or senior year of eligibility,
have attended UW-EC for two years, have a cumulative resident
grade point average of 3.00 or better, have a declared major,
be recommended by their head coach and have demonstrated
above average performance in their sport.
This year, a total of 27 athletes were nominated for the
award which was selected by the coaching staff and the Student
Athlete Advisory Committee. “The six athletes that
will be honored Saturday represent the elite of the student-athletes
from our 20 intercollegiate teams,” said former Sports
Information Director Tim Petermann who will present the
awards.
“Intercollegiate athletics at UW-Eau Claire has been
and will continue to be a classroom outside the classroom,”
said Petermann. “Participation in intercollegiate
athletics can teach life skills that will be valuable in
whatever profession these athletes choose. They will learn
time management, goal setting, interpersonal communication,
discipline, assertiveness, overcoming adversity and motivation
among other things.”
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STEPH
BARNES
Barnes completed her career as a Blugold last
season, finishing with four letters in track and field,
and one in gymnastics. During her career, Barnes received
numerous awards and recognition on a school, conference
and national level, after overcoming a number of injuries,
including a broken back her freshman year.
In 2005, Barnes won the NCAA Division III outdoor pole
vault championship and the indoor national title in 2006.
She has also placed among the top four at nationals three
other times. She owns the school indoor (12’9”)
and outdoor (12’11”) records as well as the
conference indoor mark (12’8”). Barnes was the
WIAC outdoor champion in the pole vault and was named second
team indoor All-WIAC in 2007.
In 2006 and 2007, Barnes was honored as an ESPN the Magazine
Academic All-District V second team selection, and was also
named 2007 WIAC Co-Scholar-Athlete for indoor track. She
is also winner of the 2007 Outward Bound and Marmot Scholarship,
which honors a student-athlete each year with full tuition
for outdoor education classes in Washington State. Barnes
was selected based on “her dedication to athleticism,
her aptitude for helping people and her enthusiasm for the
mission of Outward Bound.”
In October, Barnes will also be honored at the 17th annual
NCAA Women of the Year banquet in Indianapolis. She is among
30 finalists from Divisions I, II and III who will attend
the event, where a winner will be named.
A kinesiology major with a 3.68 GPA, Barnes will graduate
after the 2007 fall semester. Barnes also received the Blugold
Super Six award last year.
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SHANNA
BERGER
A four-year letterwinner in volleyball, Berger
is second in career digs with 1,983 and 13th in service
aces with 129 for the Blugolds. In 2006 she had a quarter
of the Blugolds’ digs, helping lead the team to its
first conference championship in the WIAC since 1987 and
its second straight NCAA Division III Sweet Sixteen appearance.
During her career, Berger earned the team Best Defensive
Player award in 2005 and 2006, and was named to the All-WIAC
Defensive Team in 2004, 2005 and 2006. She was also a captain
for the Blugolds in 2006.
Berger received three national honors in 2006. She was
named to the first team AVCA All-Midwest Region Team, 2006
ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America second team and 2006
ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District V first team.
Berger, a chemistry major with a 3.92 GPA, graduated last
spring.
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LIZ FALLER
A three-year letterwinner in track and field,
Faller was the team MVP in 2007, helping lead the Blugolds
to a third place finish at the NCAA Division III Indoor
National Championships.
Faller received both indoor and outdoor hurdle and relay
All-American honors during her career. She was WIAC champion
in the indoor 55-meter hurdles event twice and the outdoor
100-meter hurdles once. In 2007, Faller set a conference
record in the indoor 4 x 200-meter relay and also holds
four school records in the outdoor 4 x 400-meter relay,
indoor 55-meter hurdles, indoor 4 x 200-meter relay and
indoor 4 x 400-meter relay.
Faller was named as an indoor and outdoor All-WIAC selection
in 2005, 2006 and 2007 in multiple events. She was also
named 2007 WIAC Scholar-Athlete in outdoor track and field.
Faller received 2007 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America
second team honors and ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American
District V first team honors in 2007 after receiving second
team honors in 2005 and 2006.
A kinesiology major with a 3.98 GPA, Faller will graduate
next spring.
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MATT
EVENSEN
A four-year letterwinner in football, Evensen
holds three career records for the Blugolds and received
a number of awards during his career.
Following last season, Evensen secured first place in career
receptions with 176, career receiving yards with 2,293 and
career receiving touchdowns with 20 for the Blugolds. He
also had nine touchdowns in 2006, which is third place all-time
for single season touchdowns, 57 receptions, which is the
third highest single season total and 806 receiving yards,
which is fifth most in a single season.
Evensen received All-WIAC first team honors in 2004 and
2006 and honorable mention honors in 2003. He sat out the
2005 season as a result of a shoulder injury he suffered
in a game against the Chrysler Vikings in Vienna, Austria
during the Blugolds’ European trip in the summer of
2005.
Evensen was named to the inaugural National Football Foundation
and College Football Hall of Fame Honor Roll Society and
ESPN the Magazine All-District V first team in 2006. He
was also named to the 2004 Verizon Football All-Academic
All-District V first team.
Evensen, who also received the Super Six award in 2005,
graduated last December with a major in exercise science
and a 3.70 GPA.
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NICK
PETERSON
Peterson is a four-year letterwinner in swimming
and diving and finished as high as second place in the WIAC
Championships during his career.
For the 2006-07 season, Peterson earned the Team Hardest
Worker award and earned a third place finish in the 800
freestyle relay at the WIAC Championships. Peterson was
also the 2007 WIAC Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete, which is
presented to the most outstanding senior in each conference
sport each year. The award recognizes the greatest combination
of performance and achievement in academics, athletics and
leadership.
During the 2005-06 season, Peterson participated in the
400 freestyle relay and finished in third place at the WIAC
Championships. He also earned a third place finish in the
200, 400 and 800 freestyle relays at the WIAC Championships
in 2004-05.
His best finish at the WIAC Championships came in the 2003-04
season, when he finished second in the 200 freestyle relay.
Peterson graduated last spring as a biology major and had
a 3.57 GPA.
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LANCE VALIQUETTE
A three-year letterwinner in wrestling, Valiquette
completed his career as a Blugold, competing on the national
level at the 2007 NCAA Division III National Championships.
He was only one of nine at-large selections from the WIAC
to participate in the competition.
A team captain in 2007, Valiquette was named Team Most
Valuable Player and finished second at the WIAC Championships
at 165 pounds. He was also named a second team All-WIAC
selection at 165 pounds.
Valiquette also finished sixth at 174 pounds in the 2006
WIAC Championships and fourth at 174 pounds in the 2005
WIAC Championships.
Valiquette was also named to the 2007 NCAA Division III
All-American Scholar Wrestling Team and was a member of
the Student-Athlete Advisory Council at UW-Eau Claire.
Valiquette graduated cum laude last spring, with a 3.44
GPA and a movement studies major. He is employed at Universal
Forest Products in Janesville.
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