His year began in August and it won't end until May. Partially because he truly was a yearlong athlete and partially because of the accomplishments along the way combined with his performance in the classroom, Shayn Weidner has been named Incarnate Word's Student-Athlete of the Year.
Criteria for this annual award begin with a 3.50 or more cumulative grade point average. Then, the athlete must be either a junior or senior academically and must have been in resident at UIW for one year. Thereafter it's all about the honors and achievements.
As a senior, Weidner will complete his four-year undergraduate program at UIW with graduation in May. His field of study has been mathematics and his cumulative GPA is a remarkable 3.95 on a scale of 4.0. He is UIW Dean's List, Heartland President's Honor Roll, and 2009 mathematics student of the year.
He is ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-District. And in the fall of 2009, he was named USTFCCCA Academic All-America—this is the national coaches association for both cross country and track. Once in the fall he was the Heartland Conference academic athlete of the week.
In the fall he won the individual title at the Heartland cross country championships. Afterward he was named the conference runner of the year. And he was All-Heartland Conference. He then moved on to the South Central regional championships finishing 36th in a field of 127.
Next up was the indoor track campaign. He set Incarnate Word indoor records in both the 3,000 and 5,000-meters.
Immediately, the outdoor season began and he continued writing his name on the school record book. He toured the 5,000-meter course for a new school mark and he then rewrote the mark for the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
This is the 12th time the UIW athletic department has named a student-athlete of the year after the award was initiated for the 1998-1999 schoolyear. Weidner is the first runner from either cross country or track, or in his case both, to receive the top award.
UIW STUDENT-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
1998-1999 Jenny Carnes Basketball
1999-2000 Kylie Nabors Basketball
2000-2001 Lars Backman Golf
Trayce Simpson Basketball
2001-2002 Michelle Viverette Basketball
2002-2003 Ricardo Lara Soccer
2003-2004 Ricardo Lara Soccer
2004-2005 Cosette Reyes-Varela Tennis
2005-2006 Kevin Langan Soccer
2006-2007 Kari Chapman Volleyball
2007-2008 Dustin Walls Baseball
2008-2009 Kim Kvapil Volleyball
