COLLEGE STATION, Texas—Numerous Texas A&M athletes were honored for their contributions at the annual CHAMPS Banquet in The Zone at Kyle Field on Wednesday afternoon.

A total of 393 student-athletes and student support staff were honored for posting a grade point average of 3.0 or higher during the 2008 calendar year. Of those, 55 earned Verizon Outstanding Athletics Scholar Awards for posting a 4.0 GPA for one or both semesters.

Pitcher Kyle Thebeau (Corpus Christi) and swimmer Julia Wilkinson (Stratford, Ontario, Canada) were named the Bill Erwin Scholar Athletes of the Year.

Kyle Thebeau is a senior petroleum engineering major and pitcher on the A&M baseball team. The son of Martin and Suzanne Thebeau, he has pitched in more games than any other player in school history. Kyle also ranks among the school’s leaders in strikeouts and innings pitched and has been part of two Big 12 Conference and NCAA Regional championship teams. Last season, he earned all-conference honors and was named the squad’s C.E. “Pat” Olsen Outstanding Pitcher Award winner after posting a team-best 2.12 ERA. A three-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection, Kyle is on track to graduate next year with a degree in petroleum engineering.

Swimmer Julia Wilkinson was a three-time championship finalist at the 2008 Olympic Games for Canada last August. Wilkinson finished seventh in the 200-meter individual medley and led her country to the finals in both the 400 freestyle and 400 medley relays in her first-ever Olympics. Wilkinson, a 16-time NCAA All-American and 14-time Big 12 champion, qualified for the Olympics in eight different events, a Canadian record. Wilkinson, the 2008 Big 12 Swimmer of the Year, redshirted her true senior season due to injury in 2008-09 but will return to lead the Aggies this fall. She became only the third swimmer in A&M history, and first in 12 years, to be named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American team. Wilkinson carries a 3.83 grade-point average as a communication major and is earning a double minor in English and sports management.

Men’s diver Eric Sehn (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) was named the male Distinguished Letterman. Sehn ended his collegiate career as the winningest individual athlete in A&M history at the conference level. The 12-time NCAA All-American won 11 of 12 possible Big 12 titles in diving for the Aggies and averaged a shade below 38 points in each of his four years at the NCAA Championships. He is a four-time Big 12 Diver of the Meet and three-time Big 12 Diver of the Year and ranks second in Big 12 history in terms of individual Big 12 titles won in any sport. Sehn is also a member of the Big 12 All-Academic Team.

Sprinter Porscha Lucas (Plano), the Big 12 Outdoor Performer of the Year in 2008, was named the female Distinguished Letterman. Lucas earned her third national title as part of a relay when the Aggies won the 4 x 400 NCAA indoor title on its home track in March. Lucas is also a member of the back-to-back NCAA champion 4 x 100 relay team outdoors. She was a member of the 4 x 100 (2009) and 4 x 200 (2008) relay teams that claimed first-ever titles for Texas A&M at the Penn Relay Carnival. Lucas, who holds the school record (male or female) with 12 All-America honors, won the NCAA silver medal in the 200 meters at the 2009 NCAA indoor and 2008 NCAA outdoor meets. She won the 2008 Big 12 outdoor title in the 200 with a conference meet record of 22.29, equaling the third-fastest performance on the all-time collegiate list as well as having won the past two Big 12 indoor titles in the 200.

The 49-member Aggie equestrian team earned the highest team GPA award for both the spring and fall semesters during the 2008 calendar year. Both women’s swimming & diving and women’s tennis earned high GPA honors, thanks to having a team GPA over 3.0, for the spring 2008 semester. The female swimmers & divers replicated the feat in the fall as well.

Distance runner Mitch Bible (Albuquerque, N.M.) and western rider Genna Fishgold (Scottsdale, Ariz.) were awarded the Prentice Gautt Big 12 Postgraduate Scholarship Awards.

Mitch Bible was the second finisher on the Texas A&M cross country team that competed at the NCAA Championships in the fall of 2008. During the South Central Region meet, Bible placed 15th overall as the Aggies became just the second team in the past 30 years to defeat Arkansas for the regional team title. A&M’s win snapped an 18-year winning streak by the Razorbacks. Also during the cross country season, Bible earned first team Academic All-Big 12 honors and was one of two Aggies, and one of eight Big 12 athletes total, to compile a 4.0 grade point average over the past two semesters in mechanical engineering. Bible, who holds a 3.9 cumulative GPA, will pursue a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Genna Fishgold, a senior captain on the A&M equestrian team, helped lead the Aggies to their second western national team championship in three years three weeks ago in Waco. She compiled a 2-1 record in reining at the Varsity Equestrian National Championships, including a 140-0 win in the championship match against defending national champion TCU. Fishgold, who has been accepted into the A&M veterinary program, has been one of the Aggies’ top reining riders since transferring from Colorado State in 2006. Fishgold was awarded the Senior Merit Award, the highest honor for seniors in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and was named to the 2009 Who’s Who Among College & Universities at the All-University Awards on April 20 as well.

Senior swimmer Brittany Lentz-Raiford (Humble) was named the Community Service MVP for her work as the president of Aggie Athletes Involved. Lentz-Raiford, who was also given the Margaret Rudder Service Award on April 20 at the All-University Awards Banquet, will graduate in May with both a bachelor's degree in accounting and a master's degree in finance through the Mays Professional Program and has already been hired to work for Ernst & Young as an auditor in the fall.

Junior golfer Ashley Freeman (Belleville, Ill.) was named the Outstanding Committee Chair for 2008-09. Freeman served as the chair for AggiesCAN, the athletes’ annual food drive fundraiser held in conjunction with one of A&M’s home football games each year. Ashley birdied the second hole of a playoff to win the Big 12 Women’s Golf Championship in April, becoming the third Aggie to capture the title. She earned All-America honors in 2008 after finishing eighth at the NCAA Championship.

Senior swimmer Kyle Holland (Houston) was honored for his work with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Holland served this past year as the president of SAAC, is an all-Big 12 performer ranking among the top 10 in school history in the 100 and 200-yard backstrokes as well as the 200-yard individual medley. Holland, like Lentz-Raiford, received the Margaret Rudder Service Award on April 20 and is also a member of the Aggie Wranglers.

The Award of Excellence, given to an athletic supporter within the department, was presented to academic supervisor Chris Barttelbort. Barttelbort is finishing up his third year working with the Aggies’ women’s swimming & diving and men’s and women’s track & field programs. He also provides invaluable assistance to a number of other athletes, as well as his co-workers, across A&M’s broad spectrum of sports. Barttelbort, a master of karaoke, can often be found attending, or sometimes even working, any number of Aggie athletic events in addition to his academic advising responsibilities.

The Cleo Whitlock Award, honoring athletic supporters outside the department, was given to learning center assistants Sheila Gray and Nancy Hansen. Gray and Hansen are both volunteers at the Bright Learning Center.