Dec. 12, 2005

PLANO, Texas - Stephen F. Austin's Rodney Joseph has been named men's Hibernia Bank/Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Year in the Southland Conference for the second consecutive year. Texas-Arlington's Ivorita Taylor is the women's honoree for the recently completed 2005 season.

The student-athlete of the year is annually presented to the individual in each conference sport who achieves excellence in academics and athletics. Nominees shall have earned at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average to go along with superior athletics achievement.

Included in Hibernia's support of the Southland Conference Academic Awards Program is the F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarship presented by Hibernia Bank, and the Hibernia Bank Southland Conference All-Academic Teams, the Hibernia Bank Scholar-Athlete Award and the Hibernia Bank Commissioner's Honor Roll.

Joseph, a junior from Decatur, Texas, has posted a 3.54 grade point average in his biology major. At the 2005 SLC Championship, he finished ninth in the race to help the Lumberjacks to their fifth straight league title. Named All-SLC for the second year in a row, Joseph finished fifth in the 2004 SLC meet and went on to record a 29th-place finish at the NCAA South Central Regional.

Joseph is a two-year member of SFA's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity projects and is also involved in the SFA Big Jacks Mentoring program.

Taylor, a senior from St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, has a 3.96 GPA in accounting. She was the 18th-place finisher at the 2005 SLC Championship, helping UTA to a third-place showing. Her extracurricular activities include winning the BG Wilson Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2005 at UTA. She has also been a Super Scholar Athlete at the university from 2002-2004, has made the Dean's List every semester and is a Who's Who nominee.