April 17, 2002

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Excelling in academics, athletics and service to the community is a challenge that very few student-athletes can master. The Mid-American Conference placed 21 athletes on the prestigious Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars list, presented annually by Black Issues in Higher Education magazine to undergraduate students of color who exemplify those standards of academic excellence and community activism in addition to athletic ability.

Four Bowling Green State University student-athletes made the list. Senior Kate Yeo (volleyball) and junior Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo were each named to the first team, while sophomore Lindsay Austin (women's basketball) earned second-team honors and senior Janean Johnson (women's track) was selected to the third team.

A scholar and athlete, Ashe sought to expand opportunities for young people. To be included, students have to compete in an intercollegiate sport, maintain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.2 and be active on their campuses or in their communities.

The magazine established the Sports Scholars Award in 1992 to honor undergraduate students of color who exemplify the standards set by tennis great Arthur Ashe Jr. A total of 21 student-athletes from Mid-American Conference institutions were listed. Kent State led the way with seven honorees, while BGSU, Akron and Central Michigan each had four student-athletes chosen.

The Falcons were one of just three MAC institutions (Akron and KSU were the others) with a pair of first-team selections. BGSU's honorees are listed below:

Lindsay Austin         So.  3.58  Visual Comm. Tech.      Women's Basketball     Second Team
Janean Johnson         Sr.  3.42  Biology                 Women's Track & Field  Third Team
Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo  Jr.  3.73  Biology/Pre-Med         Men's Tennis           First Team
Kate Yeo               Sr.  3.60  Production & Op. Mgmt.  Volleyball             First Team