FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU Athletics Department has announced its third pair of 2020-21 monthly academic honorees. Senior
Snowy Burnam, a dual-sport athlete in indoor and beach volleyball, and baseball freshman
Johnny Long have been named Scholar-Athletes of the Month for October.
A female and male Eagle are chosen as the FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athlete of the Month throughout the academic year. Factors in the selection for this honor include a combination of significant athletic and overall academic success.
With the fall competition postponed, each team is on pace to resume its season once the spring semester begins.
Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) carries a 3.39 GPA, majoring in Integrated Studies with a minor in Entrepreneurship. She's a five-time Athletic Director's Honor Roll member, three-time President's List selection and a two-time Dean's List honoree.
The Palm City, Fla., native enters her senior campaign with 657 kills, which ranks 10th on the program's career list. She also has 13 double-doubles and ranks among the program's top 10 in attacks, serve percentage, reception percentage, block assists, total blocks and points.
"Snowy has been having an outstanding semester in the gym and I love seeing things following a similar path in the classroom," said head volleyball coach
Matt Botsford. "She is really a great example of what you want out of a student-athlete. She is reliable, attentive, motivated, competitive, and eager. Those characteristics translate well to both academics and athletics. Snowy utilizes those traits very well."
Long (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) boasts an outstanding 4.0 GPA, majoring in Biology, with his concentration focusing on Microbiology. He's landed on the President's List and Athletic Director's Honor Roll in both fall and spring semesters.
Last season, the Naples Barron Collier HS product appeared in seven games in his first year, making five starts behind the plate. Long made his first start on the road at Tulane, totaling five starts altogether before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In those starts, Long produced 50 putouts, committing no errors. His strongest outing at the plate came on March 7 versus Saint Joseph's where he went 3-for-4 with one run as the Eagles defeated SJU, 7-5.
"Johnny continues to do great work in the classroom," said head baseball coach
Dave Tollett. "When it comes to academics, he's one of the best student-athletes we've ever had here at FGCU."
FGCU Scholar-Athletes of the Month
August –
Cortney VanLiew (Indoor Volleyball/Beach Volleyball) and Connor Gavigan (Men's Soccer)
September – Zoey Spitzer (Women's Soccer) and Lucas Kiprotich (Men's Cross Country)
October –
Snowy Burnam (Indoor Volleyball/Beach Volleyball) and
Johnny Long (Baseball)
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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
