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Grad Students Win Rec Leadership Awards

March 14, 2017

Angelo State University graduate students Michael Adeyemo of San Angelo and Crystal Moody of Stone Mountain, Ga., have received 2017 William N. Wasson Student Leadership & Academic Awards for the NIRSA South Central Region.

(L to R) Dr. Warren Simpson, Michael Adeyemo, Lee Wasson, Crystal Moody, Horace Moody Jr. (L to R) Dr. Warren Simpson, Michael Adeyemo, Lee Wasson, Crystal Moody, Horace Moody Jr. Wasson Awards recognize top students in collegiate recreation who participate in, or are employed by, their department of recreational sports. Two undergraduate students and two graduate students are recognized annually in each of NIRSA’s six regions. Adeyemo and Moody, both graduate assistants in ASU’s coaching, sport, recreation and fitness administration program, swept the graduate student awards for the South Central Region. They were presented their awards during the 2017 NIRSA Annual Conference and Expo Feb. 21-24 in National Harbor, Md. 

The Wasson Awards are named for Dr. William N. Wasson, who founded NIRSA in 1950 as the National Intramural Association. The organization evolved into the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association and held that moniker until 2012, when it officially adopted the NIRSA acronym. 

Also, the ASU Handball Club finished as national runner-up in the Division II Women’s competition at the United States Handball Association’s 2017 National Collegiate Handball Championships Feb. 22-26 in Tempe, Ariz. 

ASU Handball Club women's team (L to R): Corinna Mendez, Bianca Martinez, Selena Cardenas and... ASU Handball Club women's team (L to R): Corinna Mendez, Bianca Martinez, Selena Cardenas and Angela Snow The ASU women’s team included Angela Snow (captain), Selena Cardenas, Bianca Martinez and Corinna Mendez. Mendez also finished in the top eight in the individual standings to become ASU’s first-ever All-American in handball. 

Teams can enter an unlimited number of players in each team competition: Men’s, Women’s and Co-Ed. The top six scores for each team comprise the team’s final score. The ASU women’s team finished as national runner-up despite competing with only four players. 

An ASU men’s team also competed at the national tournament. It included ASU’s first four-year player, Logan Benson, as well as Michael Garcia, Phillip Mendoza and Nathan Swiger. 

Unlike intramural teams, ASU club sports teams are registered student organizations that are directed and funded by the Office of Student Life and overseen by the Sports Club Council. The ASU Handball Club has won five team and nearly a dozen individual national championships in the last eight years.