By Cris Majors
Meghan Little of women’s golf and Karen Bramer of women’s rowing were named the Outstanding Graduating Senior Athletes by the University of Louisville on Feb. 27. U of L made the announcement during the Ninth Annual Red and Black Honors Banquet and Scholar Athlete Award Ceremony in the Brown & Williamson Room in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. The banquet honors student athletes who earned a 3.25 cumulative grade point average, along with their faculty mentors.
The Outstanding Graduating Seniors Awards goes to the two seniors with the highest grade point averages. Little and Bramer both maintained a 3.76 to receive the award.
Both athletes were stunned by the award.
“I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it. I had no clue,” Bramer said. “I thought they had made a mistake and announced the wrong name.”
“I was really surprised, actually,” Little said. “I had no idea.”
When asked how she managed to succeed in the classroom and in her sport, Little admitted that school has always come easy to her. Studying to make good grades in high school never required much of her time. However, the educational leap from high school to college, combined with the exhausting schedule of golf, became a bit more demanding.
“It’s all about time management,” Little said.
Bramer has the same philosophy and said she is very organized and maps out her daily schedule. When Bramer is not rowing or studying, she enjoys sleeping and spending as much time as possible with her family. Bramer is studying Education and will graduate with dual certification in Early Elementary and Learning and Behavioral Disorders. After graduation, Bramer plans to pursue her master’s degree in Education.
Bramer joined the Cardinal rowing team as a walk-on, and earned Most Improved Novice Rower as a freshman. After winning the Cardinal Pride Award her sophomore year, Bramer was voted team captain.
Bramer was also awarded the National City Postgraduate Scholarship of $5,000. The scholarship is awarded to graduating U of L student athletes who have demonstrated positive character and citizenship, and excelled in the classroom and in competition. Bramer said she was honored to be a recipient and to represent U of L.
Little is studying Exercise Science and will graduate with a degree in Health and Human Performance. She plans to compete in the FUTURES Golf Tour after graduation, an international showcase for those who wish to qualify for the LPGA Tour. Now the largest international developmental tour and the second largest women’s golf tour in the world, FUTURES Golf Tour features an 18-tournament, coast-to-coast schedule and a 2004 total purse of more than $1.2 million.
Little is the lone senior on the Cardinal golf team. She finished the fall 2004 season ranked second on the team with a scoring average of 74.7. She tied her collegiate low score of 219 and carded a collegiate-low round score of 68 in the final round of the USF/Beacon Woods Invitational. Little registered three top-10 finishes out of the Cardinals’ four tournaments last fall, including placing fourth in the Napa River Grill Cardinal Cup.
The women’s golf team won the Team GPA award, and 167 student athletes were recognized during the Red and Black Scholars Banquet for their scholastic achievements.
