Milwaukee's Hetebrueg, Green Bay's Bluemel Named Scholar-Athletes of the Month
June 3, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS -
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University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee junior Andy Hetebrueg (baseball) and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay senior Anna Bluemel (softball) have been named the U.S. Army Horizon League Scholar-Athletes of the Month for May, League commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone announced Tuesday(June 3).
Last month, Hetebrueg went 3-1 as UWM's top starting pitcher, striking out 17 batters in 27.1 innings of work. He also played in the field in five games, batting .333 and committing no errors in 28 chances defensively. Hetebrueg earned regular season victories over Valparaiso on May 3 and UIC on May 9 before guiding the Panthers to an upset of second-seeded Wright State at the Horizon League Championship, allowing just one earned run with six strikeouts in eight innings of play.
Academically, Hetebrueg boasts a 3.787 grade-point average as a marketing major. He was twice named a U.S. Army Scholar-Athlete of the Week during this season and was named to ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-District Team in 2007. Hetebrueg is also a member of the Dean's Honor List at UWM, as well as the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll.
Bluemel posted a 4-2 record with a 1.46 earned run average on the mound for the Phoenix, recording 30 strikeouts while walking just four in 38.1 innings of work. She limited her opponents to a .216 average last month, throwing five complete games, including three shutouts. Bluemel struck out a season-high ten batters while allowing just one run on three hits against Valparaiso in the League tournament.
In the classroom, Bluemel carries a 3.75 grade-point average as a human biology major. She has been named to the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll, and recently received a University Leadership Award from Green Bay for her outstanding leadership, scholarship, and community service over the past year.
The Horizon League instituted the U.S. Army Scholar-Athlete of the Week awards in 2006 as a way to supplement recognition of outstanding academic and athletic achievement by its student-athletes. That commitment continued with the addition of the U.S. Scholar-Athlete of the Month awards in the fall of 2007. To be eligible for the honor, a student-athlete must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 or better (on a 4.00 scale), have completed at least one year at the member institution and passed 24 semester or 36 quarter hours, and perform well during the month's competition. Winners are selected by a group of League faculty athletic representatives, from nominations provided by sports information directors.
OTHER MALE NOMINEES:
Jamar Jackson, Loyola (track and field, sophomore, 3.56, political science) placed fifth in both the long (6.80m) and triple jumps at the Horizon League Championships, leaping a personal-best distance of 44 feet 0.75 inches in the triple jump for the second-best mark in Rambler history.
John Giusti, Valparaiso (baseball, senior, 3.33, sports management) hit .352 (19-for-54) in 15 games for the Crusaders, starting the month with a 10-game hitting streak. He scored 12 times and had a .407 slugging percentage to go along with a .390 on-base percentage. Giusti had six multi-hit games, including three hits against both Milwaukee and Cedarville, and registered six sacrifice bunts.
Aaron Merrill, Youngstown State (track and field, junior, 3.66, criminal justice) won the shot put at the Horizon League Championships by more than five feet before placing 15th at the NCAA Mideast Regional. He also won the shot put at the Butler Twilight with a school-record throw of 58 feet 9 1/4 inches. Merrill also posted personal-best marks in the discus and hammer throws at the League meet to place third and sixth, respectively.
OTHER FEMALE NOMINEES:
Christa Coppus, Cleveland State (softball, junior, 3.21, management and labor relations) hit .333 (6-for-18) as she led the Vikings to a 3-3 record in May, including a berth in the Horizon League Championship game. She finished the month with three runs and one RBI while also earning a spot on the All-League first team.
Nora Schober, Loyola (softball, graduate, 3.78, MBA) was named to the Horizon League All-Tournament Team after batting .375 with five steals and an RBI in six games. She reached base safely via hit or walk in eight of Loyola's nine games and finished her career ranked second on the Ramblers' all-time RBI chart (89) and third in stolen bases (55). In Schober's final regular-season home game, she went 3-for-3 with three RBI and two runs in a 12-0 win over Detroit.
Rachael Button, Valparaiso (track and field, senior, 3.697, English) recorded two top-ten finishes at the Horizon League Outdoor Track and Field Championships, helping Valpo to a third-place finish. She placed fourth in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 37:57.44 and eighth in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 18:08.22.
Bethany Anderson, Youngstown State (track and field, senior, 3.46, physical education) won the hammer throw for the third consecutive year at the Horizon League Championships, this time, breaking the League's record with a toss of 182 feet 5 inches, which was almost 22 feet further than the runner-up. She also finished second in the shot put and the discus. At the NCAA Mideast Regional, Anderson placed 23rd in the hammer throw.
Previous U.S. Army Scholar-Athletes of the Month:
August/September: Mark Sommerfeld, Detroit (Golf); Betty Slinger, Green Bay (Volleyball)
October: Robby Leibold, Milwaukee (Swimming); Tara Geegan, Wright State (Volleyball)
November: Mike Schactner, Green Bay (Basketball); Tara Geegan, Wright State (Volleyball)
December: Samuel Haanpää, Valparaiso (Basketball); Elyse VanBogaert, Loyola (Basketball)
January: Ryan Tillema, Green Bay (Basketball); Kailey Klein, Cleveland State (Basketball)
February: Drew Streicher, Butler (Basketball); Jessica Weidert, Wright State (Swimming)
March: A.J. Graves, Butler (Basketball); Andrea Zappia, Valparaiso (Softball)
April: Sean Bidzinski, Loyola (Golf); Paige McCracken, Butler (Golf)
