ASU student athletes of the month announced
Kate Engelbrecht of the women's basketball team and Ryan Whiting of the men's track and field team have been named Student-Athletes of the Month, the Office of Student-Athlete Development announced Tuesday.
Engelbrecht, a kinesiology major, earned first-team Pac-10 All-Academic honors this season, one of seven players on this year's women's basketball team to be named to the conference's All-Academic teams.
She also recently received the Rudy L. Lavik Memorial Award for the outstanding kinesiology junior of 2008. The award is based on academics, community service, campus involvement and leadership.
Engelbrecht balanced her academics with her role on the women's basketball team. She played in 31 games and averaged 18.7 minutes per game this season as one of the team's primary players off the bench, and she helped the Sun Devils to a 22-11 record and their fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance this season.
She has also been active in the community, including working with a dog rescue group that helps dogs transition from shelters to their adoptive homes.
Whiting, a civil engineering major, was one of the leaders of the men's track and field indoor national championship team this season.
He helped the Sun Devils to the championship by winning the indoor title in the shot put, setting a collegiate record in the process with his throw of 21.73m (71-03.50) in the finals. That broke the record of 21.50m (70-06.50) that was set by Stanford's Terry Albritton in 1977.
Recently named Men's Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA, Whiting has also excelled in the classroom while at ASU. He is currently taking 18 credit hours and has a cumulative GPA of 3.56.
"Ryan is very dedicated and passionate about his sport," assistant track and field coach David Dumble said. "The sky is the limit for Ryan and what he can accomplish. When he puts his mind to something, he will achieve it. Ryan is the total package when it comes to the description of being a Sun Devil student-athlete."