UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University athletic department honored long time Faculty Athletic Representative George Eastland by creating an award named for him that will be presented to a female and male student-athlete. The athletes selected will have the highest overall GPA of students that have or will be exhausting their eligibility in the Fall 2010 or Winter 2011 academic semesters.  The first two student-athletes were honored this past weekend (Feb. 27) at the Student Athlete Recognition Banquet.

This year's female recipient was Kelly Henris (Saginaw, Mich./Nouvel Catholic HS).  Henris, a nursing major, was also a four-year athlete in the track program.  This past season she helped the track and field team to a seventh place finish at the GLIAC Indoor Championships.  Adam Roberts (Adrian, Mich.) took the honor on the men's side.  Roberts, a management major, was a four-year player on the basketball team.  This past season he helped the Cardinals reach the postseason for back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 1996-97 season. 

Eastland joined the SVSU faculty in 1969 in the chemistry department and has served as its faculty athletics representative since 1973, playing an important role in the growth of the athletics program at SVSU and the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  He also served as the school's interim athletic director during the 2006-07 academic year. 

This year's Student-Athlete Recognition Banquet saw more than 300 people attend to honor the academic success of 147 student-athletes that achieved at least a 3.4 GPA in either the winter or fall semester for 2010.  The George Eastland Student Athlete GPA Awards and Student-Athlete Recognition Banquet were made possible by strong relationship with State Farm Insurance Company.