Three Flathead Valley natives are leading the University of Montana men’s athletic program in its pursuit of a second-straight President’s Cup.
UM football players Derek Crittenden, Shay Smithwick-Hann and Josh Harris have been excelling in the classroom during their time in college, and that success isn’t being overlooked.
Crittenden and Smithwick-Hann were two of this year’s five President’s Award winners for having the highest grade-point-averages for all UM student-athletes for spring 2011 and fall 2011 semesters. Both men have 4.0 cumulative GPAs.
Crittenden, a redshirt freshman from Whitefish, was also awarded the Ralph and Joan Fessenden Outstanding Male Student in Organic Chemistry Award for 2012-13. The 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive end was recently named the Grizzlies’ most improved player on defense for spring practices and was recognized for his effort during winter conditioning drills.
Smithwick-Hann, a redshirt sophomore from Kalispell, won the “Moose” Miller Football Scholarship and had a good spring quarterbacking on the practice field as well.
Harris, a redshirt senior from Kalispell, has held a 3.5 or higher cumulative GPA at UM, and recently was honored by the Michael R. Jorgensen Endowment Fund. Expect Harris to play a big role on defense next spring as one of the Grizzlies’ strong veterans.
The three local standouts also helped the University of Montana win its first Big Sky Conference Men’s All-Sports Trophy since 1970-71, the league announced Tuesday.
The award annually distinguishes the best collection of men and women athletic programs in the conference and is based on a point system that tallies regular-season finishes.
This is just time the second time Montana’s men have won since the inauguration of the Big Sky Conference in 1963.
Football and men’s basketball are the two sports weighted the most, and both Griz teams had exceptional seasons this year. The football team shared last fall’s regular-season title and the basketball team won last winter’s championship outright.
The All-Sports Trophy also means the Grizzlies are leading the athletics portion of the annual Presidents Cup. The winner of the President’s Cup, which also factors in academic performance, such as graduation rates and team grade-point averages, will be announced in July. Montana won its second Cup last July thanks to second-place finishes in both athletics and academics.
Montana also won this spring’s men’s tennis championship. The three top finishes were enough to offset a fourth-place cross country finish and seventh-place finishes during both the Big Sky indoor and outdoor championships.
The Montana State men and Weber State tied for second.
Sacramento State won the Women’s All-Sports Trophy for the fourth time in five years. Montana, which won its first All-Sports trophy last year, finished fourth.