DENVER - The Western Athletic Conference announced University of Idaho student-athletes Jonathan Marler and Allix Lee-Painter as the 2010 winners of the Stan Bates Awards, the conference's highest academic award, on Friday.
The award is named in honor of former WAC Commissioner Stan Bates and honors the WAC's top male and female scholar-athletes and recognizes the recipients' athletic and academic accomplishments. The awards also carry $2,000 postgraduate scholarships.
"At the University of Idaho, we pride ourselves on developing the all-around student-athlete," Idaho Director of Athletics Rob Spear said. "These awards substantiate our commitment to this endeavor and certainly reward two deserving individuals in Allix and Jonathan."
Marler (Kennewick, Wash./Kennewick HS) is a seven-time all-WAC honoree in the high jump, a three-time ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District honoree, a 2009 ESPN the Magazine Third-Team Academic All-American and a six-time WAC All-Academic honoree.
He graduated Magna Cum Laude in May with degrees in Computer Science and Math with a 3.91 cumulative grade point average. He was also honored as the 2010 Senior of the Year for the Computer Science Department.
Lee-Painter (Moscow, Idaho/Moscow HS) is a five-time WAC champion and a three-time WAC Athlete of the Year. She earned the 2010 High Point Award after winning three titles and scoring 30 points at the WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She was the first in Idaho and WAC history and just the third in NCAA history to sweep the 3000m steeplechase, 5000m and 10,000m races at a single conference championship meet. She also won the 2008 WAC cross country title and the 2009 WAC indoor 5000m title.
Both athletes were also active in the community through events like Paint the Palouse, elementary school pen-pal programs and Idaho's free track and field kids camp. Lee-Painter also participated in three Idaho Alternative Spring Break service trips in Waveland, Miss., Asheville, N.C., and Sabine Pass, Texas from 2007-09.
She is also a two-time ESPN the Magazine Second-Team Academic All-American, a two-time ESPN the Magazine First-Team Academic All-District selection, a two-time U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division I All-Academic Team honoree and a nine-time WAC All-Academic selection. She graduated in May with a 3.86 cumulative GPA in Secondary Education and English.
Lee-Painter's and Marler's selections give Idaho five Stan Bates Awards since the Vandals joined the WAC in the 2005-06 season - the most of any conference school during that time. Jason Giuffre (track and field) earned the men's award in 2006, while Melinda Ouwerkerk (cross country/track and field) was the 2007 women's honoree and David Vobora (football) represented the men in 2008.
