Student-Athletes Honored for Achievements
October 20, 1998
Corvallis, Ore. - Oregon State has initiated a new program for the 1998-99 school year to honor four student-athletes each month for athletic and academic achievements, and the first honorees are Brandi Bonnarens, Aaron Koch, Byran Hill and Angie Shirley for the month of September.
The Beavers plan to honor a male and female each month for academic achievement and for athletic achievement. The Athletic Department will have a year-end banquet to select an overall student-athlete in each category from the monthly winners.
The academic winners from the month of September are Bonnarens from volleyball and Koch from football. Bonnarens is a sophomore setter from Gresham High School in Gresham, Ore.
Bonnarens currently has an overall GPA of 3.69 in health care administration. She was named to the Pac-10 Conference honorable mention All-Academic team. Brandi became the fifth OSU setter to record 1,000-plus assists for her career this season. She is also an active member in the Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB).
Koch is a junior offensive guard from McNary High School in Keizer, Ore. He is a psychology major and has a cumulative GPA of 3.61. Koch was also selected honorable mention on the Pac-10 All-Academic team in 1997. He is active in Young Live and his church youth group and was just elected SAAB President on Sept. 30 by his peers.
Junior Bryan Hill started the 1997 season by posting four straight shutouts for the OSU men's soccer team in September. Those shutouts pushed his career total to eight, earning him sole possession of third place on OSU's all-time list. With 15 saves in a 0-0 tie at Gonzaga on Sept. 23, Hill became the school's all-time saves leader with 123 and he has since increased his total to 147. After back-to-back shutouts of Western Washington and Florida International on Sept. 19-20, Hill was name the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week.
Angie Shirley had a hitting percentage of .362 in the month of September, leading OSU in hitting percentage and a third place ranking in the Pac-10 Conference. She was named to the all-tournament team at the Buckeye Invitational at Ohio State. Shirley set a school record for hitting percentage in a five-game match when she hit .656 with career high 23 kills and just two errors in 32 attempts against Portland. She had five double-figure kills in nine of 14 matches. She also averaged 1.29 blocks per game (66 total) to rank second on the team and eighth in the league.
