March 5, 2008
 
Five Yellowjackets Named to GNAC All-Academic Team

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BILLINGS, Mont. – Montana State Billings placed five basketball student athletes – Mike Barton, Troy Ruff, Alira Carpenter, Jen Smith and Rachel Hanson – on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic Team, the conference office announced Wednesday.
Barton, a sophomore biology/chemistry major from Havre, Mont., was one of three with a perfect 4.00 grade point average. In addition, sophomore Troy Ruff also was named to the team on the men’s side. A native of Custer, Mont., Ruff is majoring in pre-science with a 3.39 GPA.

On the women’s side, Carpenter, a biology/chemistry major, carries a 3.56 GPA from Lewiston, Mont. Earlier in the season, she was named ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Third Team Academic All-District. Smith, a junior from Belgrade, Mont., has a 3.53 GPA in elementary education and Hanson carries a 3.34 average in biology/chemistry.
A total of 54 student-athletes made the team, including 34 women and 20 men. To be eligible for the academic team, student-athletes must have a minimum grade point average of 3.20 and be in at least their second year of competition at their university.
The Yellowjacket women’s basketball team concludes the regular season at home this week with two games against Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday and Alaska Anchorage on Saturday. Game times are 7 p.m. at Alterowitz Gym. The men finish the season at Seattle on Saturday at 7 p.m. PST.