Iowa State University Athletics
Student-Athletes Honored For Summer Work In Classroom
09.02.2016 | Athletics
AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State Office of Student-Athlete Development announced today its four Student-Athletes of the Summer. Hakeem Butler (football), Wes Greder (basketball), Jhoa Luque (track and field) and Sydney Converse (gymnastics) were honored for their hard work and dedication to academic success during the summer term.
Butler, a redshirt freshman wide receiver from Baltimore, Md., earned a 4.0 GPA in his summer courses. Butler, an open option major, offered some advice to fellow student-athletes balancing their team and classroom responsibilities.
"You have to give 100 percent, no matter what the outcome," Butler said. He added that working hard to manage obstacles also helped during his summer studies.
Greder, an Ames native, is a pre-business major and plans to pursue an MBA after finishing his basketball career. The redshirt freshman guard is also considering adding a second major, as he's currently on track to graduate in just three years.
Luque, an indoor and outdoor All-American jumper on the track and field team, is a sophomore majoring in marketing. On top of her course load from the business college, the Venezuela native also took a speech communication class this summer, which paid off with more confidence in her second language, English.
Converse, a sophomore majoring in pre-business, also earned a 4.0 GPA for the summer semester. The Stone Mountain, Georgia, native competed on the beam, vault and floor for the Cyclones last season. Entering her second year in Ames, Converse has her sights set on a career in sports marketing with an athletic wear company like Nike.
Iowa State Director of Student-Athlete Development Patrice Feulner instituted the monthly academic honor – also given at the end of each semester – to recognize student-athletes who have made tremendous progress in the classroom. Student-athlete development staff members who oversee each sport submit nominations and the staff votes on the winners.
