OSU names Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Joey Graham and Valentina Medina were named the 2004-05 OSU Student-Athletes of the Year at the annual Academic Awards Banquet.

The two awards were the final ones to be announced at the banquet held on April 11. Student-athletes who earn the award must demonstrate significant success both on the field.

A native of San Cristobal, Venezuela, Medina runs track and field as well as cross-country for OSU and has excelled since she arrived on campus in 2001. In her first year, she was named all Big 12 Conference. In 2002, she finished third in the mile competition at the Big 12 Indoor Track Championships. In the same year, she was also an NCAA qualifier for the mile.

While Valentina sat out 2003 with an injury, 2004 proved to be a banner year for her. She was the 2004 Big 12 Outdoor Champion in the 1,500-meter race, earned a second-place finish in the NCAA Midwest Regional, and earned four top-7 finishes, including first place at the Tyson Invitational mile and third place at the Texas Relays 1,500.

In the classroom, Valentina has performed at an equal caliber. She is a nine-time Academic Big 12 honor roll (3.00 GPA or greater); seven-time dean’s honor roll in the Spears College of Business Administration; four-time OSU President’s Honor Roll (4.00 semester), and last year, she was named Top 10 OSU College of Business Students. She has since graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and is working on a Master of Science in Accounting currently. 

Having earned his first bachelor’s degree in aviation sciences in July 2004 and his professional pilot’s license, Graham has been a model of academic and athletic excellence. In 2003-04, Joey earned All-Big 12 – Third team by the Coaches Poll and All Bix 12 – Honorable Mention from the AP Poll. 

But 2004-05 proved to be Graham's breakout year: statistically, he led his teammates in 3-point field goal percentage (.460), free throw percentage (.889), rebounds (196), and was second in scoring (17.5 points per game average). 

Besides these glittering stats, Graham was named to the 2004-05 pre-season All Big 12 team; was a Big 12 player of the year candidate; preseason John R. Wooden award candidate; and national All-American candidate. Graham earned a place on the All Big 12 first team, and was a Sports Illustrated second-team All-American candidate.