U.W. Cross Country Star Honored

[/caption]Former Wyoming cross country/track and field student-athlete Greg Miller was named Tuesday as the 2011-12 Mountain West Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Established by the Mountain West Joint Council in 1999, the MW Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award is the highest honor presented to a student-athlete by the conference. The award is bestowed annually to one male and one female who best exemplify the term “student-athlete” by achieving excellence in academics, athletics and community involvement.

In addition to athletic achievement, recipients of the MW Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award must have a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average, demonstrate leadership, and exhibit good character and conduct on and off the playing field. Each honoree will receive a $2,500 postgraduate scholarship.

Miller is the first Wyoming student-athlete to be named as a Mountain West Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He excelled for the Cowboys’ cross country and track and field squads the past four years, including the last two as team captain, while receiving an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology/exercise science and beginning graduate coursework in the university’s Pharmacy Program.

The four-year letterwinner and two-time all-MW performer (2010 cross country, 2012 track and field) also earned Academic all-MW and MW Scholar-Athlete honors four straight years and is a candidate for a 2012 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. Miller was named to the Dean’s List and President’s Honor Roll throughout his academic career, completing his undergraduate studies with a 3.88 cumulative grade point average, and finishing his first year of pharmacy school in 2011-12 with a 3.4 GPA.

Miller, who has served as a teaching assistant in the anatomy and physiology labs on campus, is also an active member of his community. In addition to participating in the Wyoming Student-Athlete Advisory Committee’s “Toys for Tots” campaign, he has assisted with a local after-school reading/running program in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, coached Special Olympics athletes, and served as a volunteer with several other organizations.

He qualified for the 2012 Canadian Olympic Trials in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter events, but withdrew due to injury.

Former New Mexico volleyball student-athlete Kelly Williamson was the 2011-12 MW Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

(Information Courtesy of U.W. Athletics)