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NCAA News Archive - 2001
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The NCAA News
For the 30th consecutive year, the NCAA Honors Committee has selected student-athletes who have performed well on and off the fields and courts as winners of the NCAA's Today's Top VIII awards.
The group will be honored January 13 at the Honors Dinner during the NCAA Convention in Indianapolis.
The Today's Top VIII recognizes distinguished student-athletes from the preceding calendar year for athletics, academic achievement, character and leadership.
The 2002 class includes University of Georgia swimmer Kimberly A. Black; Emily Bloss, a basketball and outdoor track and field student-athlete from Emporia State University; Andre N. Davis, a football player and indoor and outdoor track and field student-athlete from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Stanford University swimmer Misty Hyman; Leah Juno, an indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country student-athlete from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point; volleyball player Nancy Metcalf from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Georgia Institute of Technology golfer Bryce W. Molder; and basketball player Ruth E. Riley from the University of Notre Dame.
Following are biographical sketches of Today's Top VIII:
Kimberly A. Black
University of Georgia
Swimming
This year's NCAA Woman of the Year also was an Olympic gold medalist as a member of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay team in the 2000 Summer Olympics. A seasoned international competitor, she won the 800-meter freestyle at this year's World University Games, her fifth career gold medal in that annual competition. Her previous World University gold medals came in the 800-meter freestyle relay in 1999, and in the 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle and 800-meter freestyle relay in 1997.
A key part of Georgia's NCAA team titles in 2001 and 2000, Black swam on the national champion 800-meter freestyle relay team in 2001 and was a six-time all-American during her career.
A biology major with a perfect grade-point average, Black is an NCAA Walter Byers Scholarship and an NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient. The Southeastern Conference's 2001 H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year also was a two-time first-team Verizon Academic All-American. In addition, she was named her university's Outstanding Honors Student in the Sciences (Joy Williams Award) in 2001. One of nine 2000 state finalists for a Rhodes Scholarship, she was a four-time College Swimming Coaches Association of America all-academic choice.
The inaugural winner of the Georgia Athletic Association Community Service Award, she also won the Peach of an Athlete Award, given by the Atlanta Boy Scouts of America for volunteer work. Black also has done volunteer work with the Athens-Clark County mentor program, Athens Regional Medical Center and Egleston's Children's Hospital for various Safe Kids programs.
Emily Bloss
Emporia State University
Basketball/Outdoor Track and Field
The 2001 Daktronics Division II Basketball Player of the Year after averaging 21 points and eight rebounds per game and leading her team to a 29-2 record, Bloss led Emporia State to four Division II tournament appearances during her career, including a national runner-up finish in 1998 and a third-place finish in 1999. The Lady Hornets made the Elite Eight in 2000 and were regional championship runner-ups in 2001. During her four years, Bloss led the Lady Hornets to a 119-10 cumulative record.
Individually, she was a first-team all-American as a senior and second-team all-South Central region as a junior. Bloss ranks second on her alma mater's career scoring list with 1,915 points, and fourth in career rebounds with 823. She scored in double figures in 99 of 129 career games.
In track, she was a 1998 all-American after being part of the sixth-place 1,600-meter relay team at the Division II outdoor championships.
A recreation and health promotions major, Bloss was the 2001 Verizon Academic All-America Team Member of the Year in the college division. She also was a three-time academic all-conference choice and an eight-time member of the Emporia State Athletics Director's Honor Roll.
She served as a volunteer for Mother of Pre-Schoolers agency and was a volunteer for a nursing home. She participated in basketball clinics and in Read Across America programs at various Emporia elementary schools. Bloss also volunteered for the Emporia Teen Center and the Village School Carnival and participated in the adult summer reading program at Emporia Public Library.
Andre N. Davis
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Football/Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field
One of the nation's top punt returners and receivers, Davis has played for one of the country's top-ranked football teams during his four years. This past season, he ranked 17th nationally in punt-return average (12.49 yards per return). Virginia Tech, which will play in the Toyota Gator Bowl this season, finished the 1999 regular season unbeaten before losing in the Bowl Championship Series national championship game. That same season, Davis helped the Hokies achieve the No. 1 ranking for scoring offense in Division I-A, averaging 41.4 points per game. He was second-team All-Big East as a return man in 2000 and led the Big East Conference with 27.5 yards per catch in 1999.
Also an outstanding sprinter and a three-year letter-winner in track and field, he set school records in both the 60 and 200 meters in the 1999 Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. He placed sixth in the 200 meters and seventh in the 100 meters at the U.S. Junior National Championships to become a U.S. junior all-American in 1997.
One of eight National College Scholar-Athletes as recognized by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, he is a first-team Verizon Academic All-American, a three-time Big East all-academic choice and a two-time dean's list member.
The inaugural winner of the Niskayuna Community Role Model Award in 2000, he is an Athletes in Action leadership team member and inspirational speaker, as well as a Winning Choices character-education speaker. He participates in hospital visits and Virginia Tech nights at elementary schools, and he was selected several times to represent interests of all Virginia Tech student-athletes through public-speaking opportunities.
Misty Hyman
Stanford University
Swimming
A gold medalist in the 200-meter butterfly at the 2000 Olympics, Hyman set the Olympic record in that event and swam the second-fastest time in history. Hyman is a two-time winner of the Honda Broderick Award as the top female swimmer in the nation (2001 and 1998) and a 28-time all-American, the highest total possible in a four-year career. She is a 12-time NCAA individual champion, including two titles each in the 200-meter butterfly and the 100-meter butterfly. In 1998, she led the Cardinal to the team title. Stanford was runner-up in 2001 and 1999, and finished third in 2000. In addition, Hyman broke NCAA and U.S. Open records as a member of the 400-yard medley relay team at the 2001 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.
In 1999, she was a member of the 200-yard medley relay team that broke the American record at the NCAA championships. She was named the NCAA swimmer of the year in 1997-98 after setting the NCAA record for the 100-yard butterfly.
Winner of the 2001 Pacific-10 Conference Medal, which is awarded annually to each member institution's outstanding senior male and female student-athlete, Hyman also is a two-time member of the conference's all-academic team.
She was the 2000-01 president of the Special Olympics at Stanford and served as spokesperson for the American Red Cross National Lifeguard Campaign. She also has served as a volunteer for Easter Seals Organization in Phoenix and for the Steve Pascente Charity Fund in Phoenix.
Leah Juno
University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point
Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field/Cross Country
A three-time NCAA champion, the 2001 Wisconsin-Stevens Point female athlete of the year won the 2001 indoor 800 meters with a track-record time, and the outdoor 800 meters in 2000 and 2001, while her team finished third in the indoor distance medley relay in 2001. The eight-time all-American (six times in track, twice in cross country) was the 2001 Midwest region indoor and outdoor track and field athlete of the year. In 2000, she was third in the NCAA indoor 800 meters. The six-time Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) champion also is the league's 800-meter record-holder.
In cross country, the two-time all-American (16th place in 2000 and 24th in 1999) led the Pointers to a ninth-place team finish in 2000. The WIAC champion as a senior, she finished fifth in the conference as a junior, 11th as a sophomore and 25th as a freshman.
She helped her alma mater to a second-place team finish at the conference championships in 2000, third in 1999 and 1998 and sixth in 1997.
The 2000 WIAC women's cross country student-athlete of the year also won the Kenneth W. Boykin Scholarship for being the school's outstanding student in mathematics. A two-time Verizon Academic All-American, Juno also is a three-time member of the WIAC scholastic honor roll.
The vice-president of the Wisconsin-Stevens Point Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, she was a coordinator for a student-athlete carnival in which student-athletes worked with children in their respective sports. She also helped organize a student-athlete community clean-up project.
Nancy Metcalf
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Volleyball
The two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association first-team all-American was a member of the U.S national team for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. The 2001 Big 12 Conference player of the year, Metcalf was a second-team Volleyball Magazine all-American in 1998, the same year in which she helped the Cornhuskers advance to the NCAA Division I semifinals and helped the U.S. place ninth in the World University Games. Before sitting out the 2000 season as a redshirt while training for the Olympic team, Metcalf became the fourth-fastest player in NCAA history to record 1,000 career kills. She has helped this year's Cornhuskers advance to the Division I semifinals with a 31-1 record.
A nominee for the 2001 Woody Hayes scholar-athlete of the year award, she is an eight-time Big 12 commissioner's academic honor roll member and a four-time highest Honors Academic Medallion winner. She was an Academic All-American in 1999 and 1998 and a three-time all-academic all-conference selection.
Metcalf participated in various community events, including serving as a volunteer for the "I've Got Heart Card Series," during which she wrote notes of encouragement to hospital patients statewide. She was an American Education Week panelist, making classroom presentations to middle schools, stressing the importance of education, respect, goal-setting and involvement. As an American Red Cross volunteer, she joined a team of student-athletes to collect donations for the Disaster Relief Fund this past fall.
Metcalf was the keynote speaker for Nebraska's "School is Cool" Jam, for which she prepared and presented motivational messages to 14,000 middle school youth in spring 2001.
Bryce W. Molder
Georgia Institute of Technology
Golf
The low-scoring amateur at the 2001 U.S. Open, Molder tied for 30th at that event and fired a 68 in the third round, the lowest single-round score for an amateur in that event since 1986.
He also is a two-time Walker Cup team member and was the World Amateur medalist in 2000.
Molder finished his college career with a record-low career stroke average of 70.69 and was the unanimous selection for 2001 national player of the year.
Molder is the fourth golfer to be a four-time first-team all-American, joining David Duval, Phil Mickelson and Gary Hallberg. In his collegiate career, he won eight tournaments and posted 24 top-three finishes. Overall, Molder recorded 37 top-10 finishes in 50 career collegiate events.
The first player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to win conference player of the year honors three times, Molder led the Yellow Jackets to team conference tournament titles in 2001 and 1999 and a runner-up finish in 2000. The winner of the ACC tournament in 2000, he was a four-time first-team all-conference pick and was ACC rookie of the year in 1998.
Molder was the Verizon Academic All-America Team Member of the Year in the university division for the 2001 men's spring at-large team. He made that organization's first team twice and its second team once during his career.
A 2001 Peach of an Athlete Role Model Award winner from the Atlanta Area Council of Boy Scouts of America, he was a member of the Georgia Tech Student-Athlete Advisory Board and worked as a campus service day volunteer.
Ruth E. Riley
University of Notre Dame
Basketball
The 2001 Naismith player of the year led the Fighting Irish to the NCAA championship that year, capping a collegiate career in which she led Notre Dame to three other tournament bids, including one other Sweet Sixteen appearance. As a senior, she was named most outstanding player in both the Women's Final Four and the Midwest regional while making both all-tournament teams.
A two-time Associated Press first-team member, she also was named 2001 player of the year by Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated for Women and Women's Basketball Journal.
The Big East Conference career leader in field-goal percentage, blocked shots, free throws attempted, free throws made and scoring, she was conference player of the year in 2001, conference defensive player of the year three times and an all-Big East first-team selection three times. Riley ranks third in school history in scoring and set the school single-season blocked shots record and field-goal percentage record.
An NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient, she was the 2001 Verizon Academic All-America Team Member of the Year in the university division.
She also was the United States Basketball Writers Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 1999-00 and the Big East Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2000-01.
A Headstart campus tour participant in 2001, Riley filmed public service announcements with other student-athletes to encourage reading in the same year.
She traveled to elementary schools to speak to students and was a Youth Fest speaker and participant in 2000.
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