OSU Names Student Athletes Of The Year

Oklahoma State wrestler Chris Perry and equestrian rider Jenna Blumer have been named the 2013-14 OSU male and female Student-Athletes of the Year.

Tuesday, June 24th 2014, 5:04 pm

By: News 9

Oklahoma State wrestler Chris Perry and equestrian rider Jenna Blumer have been named the 2013-14 OSU male and female Student-Athletes of the Year, it was announced on Tuesday.

Perry was a senior on the 2013-14 wrestling squad and wrapped up his career with his second-consecutive national title at 174 pounds. The Stillwater native finished the season with an overall record of 30-1, spending the majority of the year ranked No. 1 nationally and finishing as one of five finalists for the Dan Hodge Trophy.

"There are so many people to thank for the successes I've had here, but special thanks to my teammates, my coaches and the people in the academic center," Perry said. "The most important things to me during my time at OSU were my schoolwork, the people around me and the fans. I want people to look at me as not just a good wrestler, but also a good person. It wasn't all about making sure I won a certain amount of titles. I want people to look back on me and say that he was one of the greatest to wrestle here, both on the mat and off the mat."

He became the sixth wrestler in school history to earn four conference titles and was OSU's 64th three-time All-American. He finished the year with an 11-1 record against top-20 opponents and totaled 17 bonus-point wins. His 122 career wins rank in the top 10 all-time at OSU.

"He's set an example on our team throughout his career," wrestling coach John Smith said. "He really gained steam as he went through his career. There's no question that he shows great passion on the mat and shows a great conscious academically. Our program is excited about having the Student-Athlete of the Year and it should motivate the next guys."

Blumer was a senior on the 2013-14 reining team and ended the season with a 12-3 record and three Most Outstanding Performer awards. The Spring Brook, Pa., native earned a spot on the NCEA All-Championship Reining Team thanks to her two victories during the national tournament.

"I am extremely honored," Blumer said. "I am kind of shocked about it. I just want to thank my coaches and my teammates and academic services. The whole OSU team has really provided great support with everything in academics and competing. You need all parts to work together and I couldn't have had a better situation that the one I've had at OSU."

The three-time All-American was named Big 12 Reining Rider of the Year for the second-consecutive season and earned several academic honors, including a First Team NCEA Academic Team selection, a First Team Academic All-Big 12 Team selection and becoming a finalist for the NCEA Elite Equestrian Student-Athlete Award.

"Jenna had outstanding career here at Oklahoma State," equestrian coach Larry Sanchez said. "She has been one of the top riders to ever ride in our program. Jenna is a special individual because she leads by example, she has tremendous work ethic and she always has a positive attitude. She is outstanding in classroom as well as in the arena. She's one of those athletes that every coach wishes he had multiple just like her. We're sad to see her be done with her eligibility."

The OSU male and female Student-Athlete of the Year awards are annually presented to one male and one female student-athlete. To qualify for the award, a student-athlete was required to maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and have completed more than 100 academic credit hours.

Oklahoma State University Student Athlete of the Year Honorees

Year Women's Recipient/Men's Recipient

1994 Charlotta Eliasson, Golf/Alan Bratton, Golf

1995 Lanny Whiteside, Golf/Rafael Denson, Football

1996 Stacy Coffey, Basketball/Trip Kuehne, Golf

1997 Kym Hazzard, Tennis/Mark Branch, Wrestling

1998 Cheri Edwards, Basketball/Steven Schmidt, Wrestling

1999 Courtney Bower, Basketball/Josh Holliday, Baseball

2000 Jennifer Crow, Basketball/Jeff Ragan, Wrestling

2001 Maria Boden, Golf/Mark Munoz, Wrestling

2002 Jenny Kipp, Softball/Fran Kepelka, Tennis

2003 Lauren Bay, Softball/Kyle Eaton, Football