BULLS NEWS

BUFFALO, NY ­ Seven University at Buffalo student-athletes have been selected to the first group of SUNY Chancellor's Scholar-Athlete Award winners in 2003-04, as announced by State University of New York Chancellor Robert L. King. The Chancellor's Scholar-Athlete Award, which is co-sponsored by USA Today, was created this year to recognize students who have combined academic excellence and outstanding athletic achievement at the Division I, Division III and NJCAA levels at SUNY schools. One award winner was selected in each sport at each of the three athletic levels - for a total of 57 students in 27 different sports from 26 state universities. Seven of Buffalo's 18 nominees were selected as the award winner for their sport at the Division I level, giving the Bulls the most honorees among the four Division I SUNY schools. Binghamton had six winners, followed by Albany and Stony Brook with five apiece. All of the award winners were honored at a Chancellor's Scholar-Athlete Awards ceremony at State University Plaza in Albany on Wednesday, April 28. Buffalo's seven award winners are as follows:

Turner Battle

Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth)
Men's Basketball, 3.472 GPA, Communication major
Battle is the only player in the Mid-American Conference to be named All-MAC and Academic All-MAC in each of the past two seasons. He was an All-MAC Second Team selection and a CoSIDA Academic All-District I First Team honoree this past season after leading the Bulls to a 17-12 overall record and an 11-7 MAC record as well as their first appearance in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals since joining the league in 1998. Battle averaged 14.5 points and 4.1 assists per game in 2003-04, and he has 903 career points, 351 career rebounds and 312 career assists (fifth all-time at UB). Battle is a two-time team captain and team Most Valuable Player, and he was just named UB's Male Athlete of the Year for 2003-04. He was an All-MAC Honorable Mention selection in 2002-03 and a MAC All-Freshman Team pick in 2001-02.

Jessica Kochendorfer

Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy)
Women's Basketball, 3.222 GPA, Business major
Kochendorfer ranked sixth in scoring (13.8 ppg), fourth in rebounding (8.5 rpg) and second in blocks per game (2.24) in the MAC in 2003-04 en route to earning All-MAC Honorable Mention honors and team MVP honors for the second time in her career. Kochendorfer was a two-time Preseason All-MAC East Division selection, and she finished her career fourth all-time in scoring at UB (1,275), fourth all-time in rebounding (767) and first all-time in blocked shots (163). She set a UB single-game record and tied the MAC single-game record with nine blocked shots in a win at Cornell on January 12, 2004.

Mary Conniff

Mary Conniff (Camden, NY/Camden)
Women's Crew, 3.893 GPA, Exercise Science major
Conniff is a member of UB's varsity eight squad, rowing in the second seat. She rowed with the varsity eight squad that won the 2002 SUNY Championship title and finished third at the 2002 New York State Championship, and she was a member of the second varsity eight that placed second at the 2003 New York State Championship. Conniff was the team's Top Newcomer in 2000-01.

Jenny Koeppel

Jenny Koeppel (Amherst, NY/Amherst)
Women's Cross Country, 3.666 GPA, Mathematics major
Koeppel was an All-MAC Second Team selection, an Academic All-MAC Team selection and team MVP in 2003 after becoming the first UB women's cross country athlete to earn All-MAC honors since the Bulls joined the league in 1998. Koeppel placed ninth at the 2003 MAC Cross Country Championship in a season-best 5K time of 17:50.3, and she later placed 21st among 245 runners at the 2003 NCAA Northeast Regional meet. Koeppel was UB's top finisher in each of the eight meets she entered in 2003 with five top 10 finishes, including two victories and one second-place finish.

Devon Russell

Devon Russell (Averill Park, NY/Academy of the Holy Names)
Women's Soccer, 3.705 GPA, Communication major
Russell was the anchor of the Bulls' defense throughout her four-year career. She was an All-MAC First Team and Academic All-MAC selection as a senior in 2003 as well as an All-MAC First Team selection as a sophomore and All-MAC Second Team selection as a junior. Russell was also an NSCAA Northeast Region Second Team member in 2001 and NSCAA Northeast Region Third Team selection in 2003. She had two goals and two assists in 2003 and nine goals and six assists in her four-year career.

Breanne Nasti

Breanne Nasti (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin)
Softball, 3.637 GPA, Psychology major
Nasti currently leads the Bulls with a .324 batting average, 34 hits, 26 RBIs, eight home runs and a .629 slugging percentage in 39 games in 2004. She is a two-time All-MAC First Team selection, and she has been named MAC East Player of the Week twice this season and seven times in her four-year career. Nasti holds 15 UB single-season and career batting records, including the record for single-season batting average (.451 in 2002). That number is also a MAC single-season record, as was her .405 career batting average entering the 2004 season. Nasti was an Academic All-MAC Team and Verizon Academic All-District I Second Team selection in 2003. She was an NFCA All-Mideast Region First Team pick as a sophomore and a second-team honoree as a freshman.

Laura Olson

Laura Olson (Lyons, NY/Lyons)
Women's Track and Field, 3.149 GPA, Sociology major
Olson is the UB record-holder and an NCAA participant in both the indoor and outdoor pole vaults. She won the ECAC title and tied for second at the MAC Indoor Championship in the pole vault in 2003-04, and in the process became the first UB athlete to earn a trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the Division I history of the program. Olson finished 14th in the pole vault at the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships, and she also finished 13th at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships after winning the pole vault title at the 2003 MAC Outdoor Championship. Olson was this year's MVP of the indoor track team.