Montana State Bobcats

The celebration banquet acknowledges student-athlete accomplishments in the areas of academics and community service. Teams take part in the annual challenge that assigns points for academic achievement, leadership accomplishments and volunteer service in the Gallatin Valley and beyond.

The volleyball team was awarded the Al Beye Memorial Team Trophy for the best overall performance in academics and service. Last year, the volleyball team received the most improved team award.

"When I first arrived here, we sat down as a team and came up with a goal that this is something we wanted to do," head coach Sara Schaub said. "We wanted to show our fans and our community how much we appreciate everything they have done for us. This is a priority for our program and we're proud to give back to our community."

Bozeman native Elisabeth Driscoll, a senior cross country and track and field runner, was honored as the 2009 A.L.L. Star for contributing the most community service hours of any individual, donating over 300 hours in the last school year. She is a volunteer coach at Bozeman High and also has worked with the track and field team in projects such as Little Bobcat Track and "Adopt-A-Highway" litter clean-up. She will graduate in June with a 4.0 in Mechanical Engineering and Modern Languages. Driscoll is a ten-time Big Sky Conference All-Academic selection and has been on the MSU President's List every semester she attended MSU.

Other awards presented included:
Most Community Service Hours (raw hours): Women's Track and Field
Most Community Service Hours (points based on size of roster): Volleyball
Best Team Academic Performance (points): Men's Tennis
Most Improved Team (academics and service): Men's Tennis

MSU Provost Dr. David Dooley gave a charge to the student-athletes and Will Johnson, MSU Football volunteer chaplain, shared his personal reflections on the benefits of giving to the community.

"I'm proud of what our student-athletes have accomplished," MSU Director of Athletics Peter Fields said. "Community service and academic excellence are two very important pieces of our mission. We want to give back to the community that has given so much to us. Our student-athletes continue to show that they understand the priorities that can build excellence in their programs and in their lives."