Feb. 4, 2013

OXFORD, Miss. -- Six former Ole Miss student-athletes were among those honored with Academic Excellence Awards by 1A FAR.  The 1A FAR is an organization of faculty athletics representatives from NCAA Division I FBS institutions that seeks to advocate for effective interaction and academic and fiscal balance between an institution’s academic mission and its intercollegiate athletics program.

Rebels recognized with this award include Corrine Dornberg and Amanda Hutcheson of softball, Ashley Lance and Haley Millsap of women’s golf, Dylan Jordan from soccer and Gabby Rangel from women’s tennis.

“This is a very high honor, limited to student athletes who graduated with a stellar record.  Less than two percent of all student-athletes qualify,” said Ron Rychlak, Ole Miss Faculty Athletics Representative.  “Faculty Athletic Representatives from around the nation agreed that these scholars should be recognized, and I am very proud of each of them. They represent the very best of Ole Miss and all of college athletics.”

Academic Excellence Award recipients must have graduated during the past academic year (2011-12) with a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.80, and they must have participated in at least two years of intercollegiate athletics at an FBS institution, in a sport sponsored by an FBS conference.

Lance (Franklin, Tenn.) and Millsap (Pace, Fla.) graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Mississippi in May, after helping lead the Rebels to their fourth straight NCAA Regional appearance.  Both players were four-time NGCA Scholar-Athletes and members of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.  

Dornberg and Hutcheson both earned a Taylor Medal, the highest academic honor at Ole Miss.  A native of Langley, British Columbia, Dornberg graduated with a degree in civil engineering and was a member of the Honors College.  She was a four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. Hutcheson, from Loganville, Ga., was named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete, was a four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and was a finalist for the SEC Brad Davis Community Service Postgraduate Scholarship.

Rangel also earned a Taylor Medal from the University of Mississippi and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in international studies-economics.  She helped lead the Rebels to a final national ranking of No. 18 in 2012 and their fourth straight NCAA appearance.  A four-time ITA Scholar-Athlete, Rangel was also a finalist for the SEC Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship.

Jordan, a native of Palmyra, Tenn., was named a Capital One Third Team Academic All-American by CoSIDA and was a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.  She was named to the All-SEC second team as a senior in 2011.  In her three years at Ole Miss, Jordan played in 58 games with 56 starts.  She recorded 21 goals (seven game winners), nine assists and 51 points.  

The faculty athletics representative is a designation created and mandated by the NCAA. FARs must be members of an institution’s faculty and may not hold an administrative or coaching position in the athletics department. Duties vary by institution, but typically a FAR serves as a liaison to the athletics department. The 1A FAR is an advocate for the appropriate balance and effective interaction between an institution's academic mission and its intercollegiate athletics program.

All FARs who serve at NCAA Division IA institutions are members of 1A FAR.