Tim Tebow Named a 2010 NCAA Top VIII Winner
Friday, December 18, 2009 | Football
University of Florida senior quarterback Tim Tebow (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Duke golfer Amanda Blumenherst are among the 2010 NCAA Top VIII Award winners who will be recognized at the NCAA Convention in Atlanta, Ga., next month. The Today's Top VIII award recognizes current student-athletes, who have completed their athletic eligibility, for their success on the fields and courts, in the classroom and in the community. Recipients will be honored January 15 at the NCAA Honors and Delegates Celebration.
Joining Tebow and Blumenherst as Top VIII honors, including two other SEC winners, are:
- Courtney Kupets, Georgia, gymnastics
- Venessa Lee, Pittsburg State, cross country and indoor and outdoor track
- Jeff Lerg, Michigan State, men's ice hockey
- Kent Raymond, Wheaton (Illinois), basketball
- Brittany Rogers, Alabama, softball
- Sarah Stevens, Arizona State, indoor and outdoor track
The Top VIII honorees are selected by the NCAA Honors Committee, which is composed of eight athletics administrators at member institutions, and nationally distinguished citizens who are former student-athletes.
Following are summaries of each of the SEC honoree's achievements:
Courtney Kupets, gymnastics, Georgia
- Housing/property management and consumer economics major.
- Member of four NCAA national championship teams.
- Nine-time NCAA individual champion and the first gymnast to win at least one national title in each event.
- 2009 Honda-Broderick Cup recipient as collegiate woman athlete of the year.
- 2009 Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the Year and Roy F. Kramer SEC Female Athlete of the Year.
- 2009 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient and SEC Postgraduate Scholarship Award recipient.
- ESPN the Magazine first-team Academic All-American.
- Met regularly with a Special Olympian to prepare a routine for competition, and participated in the SOAR 5K, which involved running with a Special Olympian.
- Volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.
Brittany Rogers, softball, Alabama
- Elementary education major.
- Four-year starter who helped Alabama register three top 10 national finishes.
- Guided the Crimson Tide to three Women's College World Series berths, including back-to-back semifinal appearances.
- Finished career ranked first in stolen bases (198); second in batting average (.417), runs (256) and hits (343); and fifth in on-base percentage (.463).
- Four-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American.
- NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and Southeastern Conference Boyd McWhorter Postgraduate Scholarship recipient.
- Winner of the 2009 Paul Bryant Student-Athlete Award presented to the top male and top female student-athlete at Alabama.
- Volunteered with community organizations such as Project Angel Tree, Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, Easter Seals walk and visited various local elementary and high schools.
Tim Tebow, football, Florida
- Family, youth and community sciences major.
- Only sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, Sullivan Award, Davey O'Brien Award and Maxwell Award (2007).
- Three-time Heisman Trophy finalist.
- Only player in NCAA history to rush and pass for at least 20 touchdowns in one season.
- Guided Florida to two national championships and two Southeastern Conference championships.
- 2009 SEC Offensive Player of the Year.
- ESPY award winner as best male college athlete in 2008.
- Two-time ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American of the Year.
- Two-time SEC scholar-athlete of the year for football (2008, 2009).
- Dedicated more than 700 hours to community service and appearances this year, including making phone calls to sick children and visiting hospitals.
- Named to the 2009 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.
- Chosen as 2008 Disney Sports Spirit Award winner as college football's most inspirational player.
-UF-
