Milwaukee's Schleis, Wright State's Weidert Named Scholar-Athletes of the Week
Feb. 26, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee junior Adam Schleis (men's track and field) and Wright State University senior Jessica Weidert (women's swimming) have been named the U.S. Army Horizon League Scholar-Athletes of the Week, League commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone announced Tuesday (Feb. 26).
Schleis led Milwaukee to a 4-0 record at the Panther Tune-Up, including wins over three League schools. He won two events, taking top honors in both the long jump and the 60-meter hurdles. In the long jump, Schleis broke the school record with a leap of 23 feet,10 3/4 inches, which is 20.5 inches better than any other jump in the League this year. He also ran a time of 8.27 seconds in the hurdles.
Schleis maintains a 3.360 grade-point average as a history major. He has been named to the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll, and the Horizon League Academic All-League team for track and field.
Weidert was honored as the women's 2008 Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Year and Swimmer of the Meet at the Horizon League Championships. She won three individual events, setting a new League championship record in each event, and posted an undefeated 8-0 record in the 200-yard breaststroke this season with her winning performance on Saturday (Feb. 23).
In the classroom, Weidert boasts a perfect 4.000 grade-point average as a modern language major. She has earned the Highest Honors during every quarter at Wright State, and was named to the Academic All-League team in 2007. She also has been recognized on the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll.
The Horizon League instituted the U.S. Army Scholar-Athlete of the Week awards as a way to recognize outstanding academic and athletic achievement by its student-athletes. 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 week's competition. Winners are selected by a group of League faculty athletic representatives, from nominations provided by sports information directors.
OTHER MALE NOMINEES:
A.J. Graves, Butler (basektball, senior, 3.335, math) helped the Bulldogs clinch their second-consecutive Horizon League regular season title with a 51-46 victory at UIC last week. He gave Butler the lead for good with a three-point field goal and led the team in scoring with 14 points. In two games last week, Graves averaged a team-high 16.0 points per game, and scored another team-high 18 points in Butler's nationally-televised game against No. 16 Drake on Saturday (Feb. 23).
Phil Orno, Cleveland State (tennis, sophomore, 3.40, English) went 2-1 overall as the Vikings split a pair of matches over the weekend. In Friday's (Feb. 22) 4-3 loss to Toledo, Orno earned a 7-6(5), 7-6(4) victory at No. 1 singles, and came back on Saturday to help his team to a 7-0 sweep of Robert Norris (6-1, 6-2).
Matt McCabe, Loyola (track, sophomore, 3.48, finance/marketing) placed second in the 3000-meter run at the Panther Tune-Up on Friday with a personal-best time of 8:59.46.
Brett Bivens, Valparaiso (baseball, sophomore, 3.75, finance) went 4-for-11 with six runs batted in and three runs scored as Valpo took two of three games at Austin Peay. In the opener, he went 2-for-4 with four RBI's and a walk, and then in the finale, went 2-for-3 while driving in two runs. Bivens had a .500 on-base percentage for the week.
Justin Parker, Wright State (baseball, junior, 3.440, organizational leadership) led the Raiders with a .375 (3-for-8) batting average and a .545 on-base percentage. He drove in three RBI's and scored a run in three games at Arkansas over the weekend, where he doubled once, singled twice, walked and was hit by a pitch. Parker moved into the top-ten on the career hit-by-pitch list with 16 over the past two seasons.
OTHER FEMALE NOMINEES:
Dominique Butler, Cleveland State (basketball, junior, 3.24, social work) scored a career-high 25 points and added eight rebounds and four steals as the Vikings routed Youngstown State 82-66 on Saturday. Butler hit 9-of-11 shots from the field and all seven of her free throws to surpass her previous career-high of 21 points in a game.
Pam Staton, Loyola (track, junior, 3.64, psychology) finished first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:17.61 at the Panther Tune-Up on Friday. She also recorded a personal-best time of 5:05.80 in the mile to place second overall.
Molly Finn, Milwaukee (swimming, junior, 3.261, organizational administration) helped lead the Panthers to a third-place showing at the Horizon League Championships as she won the 200-yard butterfly for the third-straight season with a Horizon League record time of 2:03.79. She is just the second Milwaukee women's swimmer ever to win three-consecutive league titles. Finn also placed third in the 200 and 400-yard individual medley events.
Rachel Majercik, Valparaiso (swimming, sophomore, 3.22, undecided) set a new school record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 58.96 to finish in ninth-place at the Horizon League Championships. She also finished 10th in the 100-yard freestyle (53.05) with a new school record only to have it broken again later that night. Majercik finished third in the 50-yard freestyle (24.11) with the second-fastest time in school history.
PREVIOUS U.S. ARMY SCHOLAR-ATHLETES:
Aug. 28,Nina Inic (Butler, volleyball)
Sept. 5,Ryan Miller (Green Bay, cross country); Liz Fazio (Cleveland State, volleyball)
Sept. 11,Chris Honig (Valparaiso, cross country); Katarina Hanackova (UIC, volleyball)
Sept. 18,Malcolm DeBaun (Loyola, soccer); Betty Slinger (Green Bay, volleyball)
Sept. 25,Markian Zyga (Loyola, soccer); Sara Hughes (Valparaiso, volleyball)
Oct. 2,Kent Wories (Butler, cross country); Ani Michl (Valparaiso, soccer)
Oct. 9,Zeke Dombrowski (Milwaukee, soccer); Lotte Rasmussen (Green Bay, soccer)
Oct. 16,Kent Wories (Butler, cross country); Amanda Stinson (Green Bay, soccer)
Oct. 23, Robby Leibold (Milwaukee, swimming); Alyse Serritella (Loyola, volleyball)
Oct. 30,Steve Grove (Cleveland State, swimming); Genni Gardner (Butler, cross country)
Nov. 6,Steve Grove (Cleveland State, swimming); Beth Steuer (Milwaukee, soccer)
Nov. 13,Robby Leibold (Milwaukee, swimming); Cynthia Morote-Ariza (Loyola, soccer)
Nov. 20,Mike Schachtner (Green Bay, basketball); Mel Snyder (Cleveland State, volleyball)
Nov. 27,AJ Graves (Butler, basketball); Kailey Klein (Cleveland State, basketball)
Dec. 4,Drew Streicher (Butler, basketball); Ashley Hall (Milwaukee, diving)
Dec. 11,Jake Diebler (Valparaiso, basketball); Ashley Hall (Milwaukee, diving)
Dec. 18,Samuel Haanpää (Valparaiso, basketball); Leah Hochstetler (Valparaiso, basketball)
Jan. 8,Ryan Tillema (Green Bay, basketball); Kayla Groh (Green Bay, basketball)
Jan. 15,Mike Schachtner (Green Bay, basketball); Kari Helland (Green Bay, diving)
Jan. 22,Steve Bartholomew (Valparaiso, Indoor Track & Field), Kelsey Hausken (Green Bay, swimming)
Jan. 29,Robby Leibold (Milwaukee, swimming); Jessica Weidert (Wright State, swimming)
Feb. 5,Jeremy Waldhart (Milwaukee, swimming); Ashley Hall (Milwaukee, diving)
Feb. 12,Phil Orno (Cleveland State, tennis); Kat Krause (Loyola, softball)
Feb. 19,A.J. Graves (Butler, basketball); Elise VanBogaert (Loyola, basketball)
