June 30, 2000

BIRMINGHAM -- A total of 98 UAB student-athletes from 11 teams are among those receiving academic honors awarded by Conference USA the league office announced Friday.

Eight UAB student-athletes received the C-USA Academic Medal of Honor, which are awarded to student-athletes with a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher during the academic year. They include Igor Nikolic (men's basketball), Brent Laircey (baseball), Katja Lerew, Kerri Sparks, Denise Peters and Lisa Nowoslawski (women's soccer), Ryan Estes (football), and Kirsty Martin (track and field).

The 1999-2000 Academic Medal of Honor was the third straight for Nikolic, Laircey, Lerew, and Sparks. Nikolic is an engineering major from Yugoslavia, Laircey a biology major from Statesboro, Ga., Lerew an exercise science major from Wichita Falls, Texas, and Sparks a biology major from Birmingham.

The eight who received Academic Medals of Honor are also among the UAB student-athletes to earn a spot on the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll. Commissioner's Honor Roll members maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and participate in a conference-sponsored sport

A complete list of UAB's C-USA Academic Honor Roll winners:

Baseball

Karla Wehrle