Team also dominates in the classroom

Anyone who has been watching the NCAA basketball tournament has seen the commercial saying, "There are 360,000 NCAA student-athletes, and just about all of us will be going pro in something other than sports." \nHere at IU, there are 18 student-athletes on the women's water polo team, and all of them will be going pro in something other than sports.\nThe No. 9 Hoosiers have had many accomplishments in the pool so far this season, most recently, winning the program's first regular-season College Water Polo Association Western Division title. The team is also accomplished out of the pool. On March 2, 10 players were named Alpha Beta honorees. To qualify for Alpha Beta recognition, student-athletes must record a minimum 3.0 GPA for the most recent academic semester.\n"School is by far my most important priority," said senior goalie Jessica Goldner. "Water polo is important, but I am at college to get an education. I am a student-athlete. A lot of times people forget the student part, but for me, it should always come first."\nGoldner, whose GPA is above a 3.5, places so much value on education that she plans to going into elementary education after graduating in May. She spends nearly 10 hours studying each week. Balancing that with conditioning, practice, traveling and still maintaining a social life can be difficult, she said. \nJunior attacker Janis Pardy, The IU athletic department's 2005 recipient for the Scholastic Achievement Award, agrees.\n"It is pretty tough," Pardy said. "You have to do a lot of time management and being organized. You do not have a lot of time to waste. There is not much down time. You end up missing quite a bit of school and it always feels like you are catching up."\nEven with all that difficulty, Pardy does not feel like she is at a disadvantage to the rest of her classmates. It just makes her have to work hard for what she wants. She and her teammates take advantage of travel time on the bus or plane in order to get their work done, she said. \n"(Being a student-athlete) has made me develop good work habits," Pardy said. "We all understand how important school is and we all try to do our best."\nJunior attacker Kristin Zernicke, another Alpha Beta honoree, has the highest GPA on the team. She credits those around her for the team's high academic performance. \n"I really like school and I think that my courses are interesting," Zernicke said. "But it is not just me. There are a lot of people who want to see us succeed. The team, the coaches, and the athletic department all really support us." \nIU coach Barry King's teams have always performed well academically. Since 2001, his teams have had 22 American Water Polo Coaches Association Academic All-Americans. Since 1999, there have been 44 Academic All-Big Ten honorees. In 2004, IU was the only team ranked among the top 20 in the final poll of the season and the top 10 in team GPA.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Steve Brennan at sgbrenna@indiana.edu.