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BAY CITY, Mich. — Grand Valley State University's Monica Kinney (Walker, Mich./Grand Rapids West Catholic), and Wayne State University's Matthew Laschuk (Tecumseh, Ont./Academie Ste. Cecile) were named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s (GLIAC) 2010-11 female and male “Scholar-Athletes of the Year,” respectively, as voted by the league’s Faculty Athletics Representatives.
Kinney claimed two NCAA Division II titles at the 2011 Indoor Track & Field Championships, to help the Lakers claim their first D-II indoor crown. Kinney, who was a junior this past year, recorded 21.5 points at the national meet and earned three All-American honors. Kinney finished first in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:28.02, while placing first in the mile run and helping the distance medley relay team to a third-place finish. Kinney led GVSU at the 2011 GLIAC Indoor Championships with 20.5 points. She earned a GLIAC title in the 3,000-meter run, helped the distance medley relay team to a first place finish, while placing second in the 800-meter run.
During the outdoor season, she placed second at the 2011 D-II Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 1,500- meter run, after winning the GLIAC Championship in the same event a few weeks earlier. A CoSIDA First Team Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-American, Kinney was named the 2011 Midwest Region Women's “Track Athlete of the Year” during both the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. She has earned several Academic All-GLIAC honors, while majoring in biomedical science with a 3.78 grade point average.
Laschuk, a junior this past year, received his second consecutive NCAA Elite 88 Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 88 championships. He earned three All-America honors at the 2011 NCAA D-II Championships, finishing 14th in the 200-yard butterfly, 16th in the 200-yard breaststroke and helping the sixth-place 400-yard medley relay team. Laschuk finished sixth in both the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard breaststroke at the 2011 GLIAC Championships. He came in seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke and was a member of the second-place 400-yeard medley relay squad.
A chemistry major at Wayne State, Laschuk has been named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (term GPA 3.5+) every semester, earning a perfect 4.00 in five of the six terms. He was voted to the 2011 CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-America At-Large First Team. A 2011 GLIAC Winter Commissioner's Award recipient, Laschuk was named to the 2011 GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team. A 12-time All-American in his collegiate career with five First Team (three relays and two individual) and seven Honorable Mention (all individual), he also won the 2009 conference title in the 200-yard breaststroke.
“Monica Kinney and Matthew Lashuk serve as an outstanding representation of the caliber of student-athlete we have in the GLIAC,” stated GLIAC Commissioner Dell Robinson, “We are proud of their accomplishments in the classroom and in their respective sports. The award provides a platform for their talents to be showcased.”
Both Kinney and Laschuk are now in
the running for the Division II Conference Commissioners
Association (CCA) Regional “Scholar-Athlete of the
Year,” awards presented by Disney’s Wide World of
Sports.