Hokie ClubSenior sprinter Aunye Boone of the women’s track & fieldteam has been named a recipient of the Academic Momentum Award as announced bythe Scholar Baller® program, in conjunction with the National Consortium forAcademics and Sports (NCAS). Boone was one of 49 student-athletes honored fromacross the nation and was tabbed to the second team.
Nominations were categorized into three teams based on eachstudent-athlete’s academic improvement and the impact each student-athlete’sacademic performance had on his or her classmates, teammates, academicadvisors, and professors.
Boone, an English major from St.Leonard, Md., led the team in the outdoor 400-meterdash this past season, setting a personal best at the Hurricane Invitational(55.23). Indoors, she ran on the school record-setting 4x400-meter relay at theACC Championships (3:38.16) and was named to the All-ACC and USTFCCCA AcademicTeams.
The NCAS is an ever-growing organization of colleges anduniversities that provides opportunities for current and formerstudent-athletes to continue their pursuit of higher education, while workingin the community with children to address social issues. Established in 1985,the overall mission of the NCAS is “to create a better society by focusing oneducational attainment and using the power appeal of sport to positively affectsocial change.â€
Established in 1995, the Scholar Baller® movement evolved inresponse to concerns that the student-athlete’s athletics role increasinglysuperseded the student role. In order to address this issue, the foundingmembers of Scholar Baller developed a groundbreaking program to bridge the gapbetween education and sport utilizing student-athletes’ passion for entertainmentand athletics. As a result, the Scholar Baller program has producedunprecedented outcomes in student retention and academic achievement.