This week in Boise we’ve come together as Vandals for the 2019 Big Sky Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships. Our student-athletes represented the University of Idaho with pride, determination and character. For this week’s Friday Letter I connected with Pete Isakson, interim athletics director, who has stepped in this year to lead our program. I asked him about our successes and our opportunities. President Chuck Staben: Why has it been special to have our Big Sky basketball tournament in Boise this year for the first time? What has stood out to you? Athletic Director Pete Isakson: The opportunity to play postseason games in our home state is awesome. It’s unfortunate we didn’t end up hoisting the trophy, but we saw such an outpouring of support from our fans and alums down here, as well as the Vandal faithful who traveled to come watch our teams lay it all out there in a tournament setting. It doesn’t get any better than that. We look forward to doing it all again and staying a little longer at next year’s tournament. CS: We love Athletics, but are also proud of the student side of the student-athlete equation. How have Vandals excelled as students this year? PI: Our student-athletes put a tremendous amount of work into their academics – 190 student-athletes achieved a 3.0 GPA or better last semester. But I want to single out a couple of the women in our department who have taken their achievements to the next level. Earlier this week, Mikayla Ferenz was named the Division I Women’s Basketball Academic Team Member of the Year. A 4.0 student in actuarial sciences, Mikayla is not only the first Vandal to earn this award in its 30-year history, she’s the first woman in Big Sky Conference history to be named the Academic All-American of the Year in any sport. Last month, former women’s soccer student-athlete Kelly Dopke was awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. One of the most sought-after and prestigious awards the NCAA hands out, the $10,000 scholarship will help jump-start Kelly’s medical career. CS: Vandals have seen success on the court this year. What other program success have we seen in other sports? PI: We have seen a great deal of success this season, both individually and with our teams. Last fall, volleyball earned a share of the regular-season Big Sky title and advanced to the conference tournament championship match, while soccer finished second in the league. In winter sports, diver Janelle Lucas became the first woman in WAC history to win four conference championships on the platform. Zachary Short defended his title in the shot put at the Big Sky Indoor Track and Field Championships and became the first Vandal in six years to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. Three of our spring teams are defending Big Sky titles – women’s golf and both tennis programs. Women’s tennis is fresh off a win over Oregon and senior Marianna Petrei is seeking her fourth Big Sky MVP award. Women’s golf senior Sophie Hausmann is the reigning Big Sky Player of the Year, and she will spend part of next month competing at Augusta National as part of an elite world amateur tournament. CS: Sadly, we lost a member of the Vandal Family when Collin Sather passed away. What has that meant to our student-athletes? PI: First and foremost, our thoughts continue to be with Collin’s family and friends. Collin clearly had a great impact on a number of our student-athletes, coaches and staff during his time in Moscow. It has been powerful to see our student-athletes come together and take care of one another during this difficult time. We’ll have the chance to celebrate Collin with all those who were close to him on March 29, at 4:30 p.m. at Millwood Presbyterian Church near Spokane. He embodied what it means to be a Vandal, and his legacy will live on forever within our department. CS: The ICCU Arena was approved for construction, pending consultation with the incoming president once named. What will that mean for our Athletics Program? PI: We are forever grateful to everyone who has stepped up along the way to make the ICCU Arena project a reality and to the State Board of Education for sharing in our vision. This building will transform the future of the university and Vandal Athletics. Many thanks go out to you, President Staben, and to Mike Perry for your leadership on this project. This is an exciting time to be a Vandal. We can’t wait to break ground! CS: You’re meeting many Vandal alumni and friends this week. What’s the impact of their support for the program? PI: There are countless Vandals in and around Boise who make a significant impact on the lives of our student-athletes. The Big Sky Championships have brought the student-athlete experience to so many of our alumni and friends in the Treasure Valley and showcased the incredible young men and women who will leave our program better people because of the opportunities afforded by our supporters. New Associate Athletic Director Mahmood Sheikh and I have enjoyed visiting with hundreds of local Vandals and seeing the silver and gold worn and displayed with pride throughout Boise this week. President Staben: Thank you, Pete, for your leadership in the department and your commitment to student-athlete success. | | Go Vandals! Chuck Staben President | | | | Pete Isakson returned to U of I in 2017. He earned a master's degree from U of I in 2003 and actually began his career in Athletics at our institution from 1995-96. | | Two Faculty Members Receive National Recognition Two University of Idaho assistant professors have earned national Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Elizabeth Cassel and Michael Strickland will receive a combined $1.38 million in funding for their projects through the prestigious NSF CAREER program, meant to fund the research and education activities of early career faculty. Cassel, assistant professor of geology in the College of Science, will use her $729,932, five-year award to develop a new method for more accurately measuring the timing and magnitude of elevation and terrain changes in the North American Cordillera, which spans the mountains and plateaus of the continent’s entire Rocky Mountain range to the mountainous regions along North America’s West Coast. Strickland, assistant professor in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences' Department of Soil and Water Systems, will use his $651,698, five-year award to determine the effects agricultural antibiotics have on soil food webs and the ecosystem. NSF CAREER awards fund the research and education activities of early career faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research. | | Vandals Earn National Theatre Awards Two University of Idaho theatre students and a theatre team took top awards at the regional competition of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Sophomore Andrew Yoder of Boise won the National Award for Excellence in Sound Design for his work in U of I’s performance of “A Kind of Alaska.” Senior Jessica Shehan won the National Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Directing Fellowships Award for her direction of a scene from “The Baltimore Waltz.” In addition, a U of I student improv club, Awkward Silence, took home a second-place award. Members performing were Joseph Winder, Katharine Sonas, Valerie Denton, Andre Szarmach, Emma Pace, Aidan Leonard, Katy Sokol and Ricky Kimball. The festival awards are part of a national theatre program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities across the country. U of I also took first place in the festival’s Tech Olympics with a team composed of Jared Sorensen, Mason Chadd, Valerie Denton and Stephanie Lutz. Read more, including other award winners. | | U of I Professors Contribute to Publication on Idaho’s Most Significant Structures Boise, Moscow and Pocatello have the most architecturally significant structures in the state of Idaho, according to the peer-reviewed online encyclopedia contributed to by University of Idaho faculty members. Idaho’s most significant buildings, landscapes, infrastructure and monuments —from the Panida Theater in Sandpoint to the Red Baron Hangar in Idaho Falls to the Warehouse Historic District in Twin Falls — were recently chronicled in the Society of Architectural Historian’s (SAH) Archipedia by four faculty members in U of I’s College of Art and Architecture. Professor Anne Marshall, Professor Emeritus Wendy McClure, Associate Professor Phillip Mead and Associate Professor Emeritus D. Nels Reese identified, researched, photographed and wrote about 119 districts and buildings for the site. Idaho cities with the most entries include Boise with 23; Moscow with 20; Pocatello with eight; Idaho Falls and Sun Valley with five; Twin Falls and Wallace with four; and Lewiston, Plummer and Sandpoint with three. The academics sought to tell the social and cultural history of the state through their entries. | | | | |