Golden Torch 2001

Student Athletes Honored At The 11th Annual Golden Torch Gala

Nov. 5, 2001

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The 11th Annual Golden Torch Gala, honoring the academic excellence of Florida State University student-athletes was held recently at the University Center, located on the FSU campus.

The Golden Torch Gala is an annual event that recognizes the efforts and excellence of all student-athletes in the classroom, rather than their achievements on the field. The hard work the student-athletes put forth in their academic pursuits has led Florida State to be recognized as a superior athletic and academic institution.

The Golden Torch Award is given to the student-athlete who achieved the highest grade point average, on his or hers respective team, during the 2000-01 academic year. The honorees: Aaron Cheesman (Finance), Baseball, Vanessa Fuchs (Media Production), Basketball, Ryan Lowery (Business), Basketball, Beth Lukens (Art Education), Cross Country, Shawn Patterson (Biological Science), Cross Country, David Castillo (Exercise Science), Football, Louise Wright (Marketing/Finance/Multinational Business), Golf, Andrew Lewis (Sports Management), Golf, Jennifer Garcia (Communication Disorders), Soccer, Rebecca Brock (Advertising), Softball, Margaret Colley (Accounting), Swimming/Diving, Jonathan Kaplan (Sports Management), Swimming/Diving, Alida Gallovits (Marketing), Tennis, Xavier Luscan (International Affairs), Tennis, Karen Rademeyer (English Education), Track, Gary Visser (Exercise Science), Track, Jennifer Anderson (English Education), Volleyball.

For the fifth straight year, Lise Gregory’s women’s tennis team earned the women’s team award while for the second year in a row, the cross country team, coached by Bob Braman, earned the men’s team award.

Florida State student-athletes as a whole had a banner year in the classroom. With 149 student-athletes named to the 2001 ACC Academic Honor Roll, FSU ranked second among ACC schools (Duke was first). Individually, FSU’s women’s tennis, and women’s golf teams ranked first for number of members on the ACC Honor Roll, while baseball and women’s basketball ranked second and men’s cross country, men’s tennis and women’s softball were third. In addition to the conference honors, last year alone, FSU student-athletes earned a total of $33,000 in postgraduate scholarships.

Members of the President’s office, Faculty Senate, Dean’s offices, Athletic Board, Seminole Boosters and Booster Board members were on hand to congratulate the winners. Dave Hart, Jr., Director of Athletics, was also present to speak to the athletes and introduced the keynote speaker of the evening, David Middleton, an FSU Alumnus and Seminole Booster.