The term student-athlete is one that provides a balance between participating in athletics and learning at a school for higher education.

The responsibilities are doubled for those who go to school and also play their chosen sport during their college years.

The travel, team competition and classroom responsibilities are all factors in what the life of a student-athlete encompasses.

The recognition that most of the student-athletes receive, however, revolves around what they do on the field or on the court, instead of focusing on their accomplishments in the classroom.

But for 122 student-athletes that go to Eastern, awards were handed out to them for their achievements in the classroom. Eastern, as a whole, had more than 20 students named to the honor roll than the second closest school, Samford.

“When we look at these numbers we take pride in them,” Betty Ralston, Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and Academic Services, said. “It isn’t just grade inflation either; we have a very smart student body here at Eastern, and the student-athletes want to reflect the community they are a part of.”

While the Panthers did have more than 20 athletes on the list than any other school in the OVC, Ralston is quick to point out that they also have more athletes and more sports than any other OVC school as well.

But regardless of the overall numbers, these awards are one way to gauge who is fulfilling their goals in the classroom for Eastern athletics compared to the rest of their competition within their conference.

The honor roll consists of the athletes from each OVC school that compete in athletics and reach the necessary grade point average, which is at least a 3.0.

To the administrators, the awards showcase the work they put in with the athletes on an individual basis; to the coaches, it proves that the work ethic they are trying to instill is working off the field,and to the players, these awards prove that they are holding their own, both in the classroom and on the playing field.

“It is a goal for us to have the athletes meet the standards we set for them, and these kind of results prove that we are on our way,” Ralston said. “A lot of the credit has to go to the coaches who know who they are recruiting and whether or not those players can handle the academic issues along with the athletic issues.”

That relationship between coach and player is something that allows the coach some leniency in choosing who he or she wants to represent their team and their school.

For women’s rugby coach Frank Graziano, the academic side of his athletes is something he takes great pride in. He wants academics to be just as much of a focus for his team as athletics are.

“The dedication the girls show to me through their school work and other activities is amazing,” Graziano said. “They are in here sometimes around 6:30 in the morning to do some extra running, and sometimes we don’t have room to run on the football field because so many other athletes are already there.”

The coach believes that behind the scenes activity like that are examples of what really makes up a student athlete.

Graziano also tries to recruit based on what high school coaches and parents say about the player he is hoping to bring into his program.

Based on other’s advice, Graziano hopes to find out exactly what that person may hold in their personality that fits the Eastern system.

“Coming into college, we know what the girls are capable of,” Graziano said. “That way if they start to get off track or if their numbers might be a little low we know that there could be a problem.

“When we know what they are capable of, we know what standards to hold them to.”

That philosophy garnered the women’s rugby team 11 players on the OVC Commissioners Honor Roll.

The only other teams with a higher total on the list were the women’s swimming and diving team, women’s track and field, and women’s soccer.

“A lot of the girls look at each other and see the other sports that may have a higher GPA and wonder what they have to do since they are already getting a 3.2 (GPA),” Graziano said. “But that isn’t the right way to look at it, instead we should just focus on how well we are doing as a team and how well the school is doing overall.”

A few of the other notable Panthers who were named on the honor roll include departed tennis star C.J. Weber and women’s basketball senior Pam O’Connor.

The list included more women athlete than men’s and gave a well-rounded account of the different sports at Eastern.