Western Michigan University senior tennis player Jeff Brink and Northern
Illinois senior golfer Dave Emanuelson were two of the 15
student-athletes honored as first team GTE Academic All-Americans, while
Ball State sophomore track and field competitor Adam Shunk garnered
third team academic honors.
Brink, who earned a 4.00 grade-point-average in Biomedical Sciences, led
WMU with 46 overall wins and was undefeated in the Mid-American
Conference in both singles and doubles play. Academically, he
maintained the top GPA among Western Michigan student-athletes and was
the Broncos' 1999 and 2000 male athlete of the year.
"Jeff expects the absolute best of himself," WMU head coach Dave Morin
said. "He doesn't settle for anything less. He'll continue to strive for
excellence in dental school and in his profession."
Emanuelson earned a 3.94 GPA in Finance and Economics at NIU and made
the All-America squad for the third straight year (first team in 1998
and second team in 1999). The senior earned the College Golf
Foundation's Graduate Scholarship Award, given to just one graduating
senior in Division I. Emanuelson was a medalist at the El Diablo
Intercollegiate with a season-best 217.
"He is one of the best golfers that I have ever coached and is certainly
the best student that I have ever had," Northern Illinois men's golf
mentor Jack Pheanis said. "This is a guy who has maintained a straight-A
average every year in school, except for two classes where he got B's,
and he graduated in four years with two degrees. That is truly amazing."
Shunk's selection marks the first time in 15 years that a BSU men's
track and field athlete has earned Academic All-America honors. Shunk,
the MAC Champion in the high jump with a leap of 7-3 1/4, advanced to
the NCAA Championships in earlier this month. The sophomore tied for
fifth in the high jump with a height of 7-2 1/4 to garner All-America
laurels. He owns a 3.64 grade-point average as an education major at
Ball State.