April 29, 2003

OXFORD, Ohio-On a night when Miami University's senior student-athletes were recognized for their commitment to Miami's athletic programs, the RedHawk women's basketball team earned the Hal Jasper Award for community service and senior Heather Cusick captured the prestigious Leann Grimes Davidge Memorial Award.

The Hal Jasper Award, which was presented for the second time to the Miami Athletic Program that is most involved in the community, is named in honor of Miami's former Faculty Athletics Representative. Over the past year, the RedHawk women's basketball team has been involved in numerous community service projects, including basketball clinics at Eaton Middle School and with the Butler County Special Olympics, participation the Championship Reading Program and involvement with the Giving Tree at St. Mary's Catholic Church.

Cusick, a two-time first-team all-MAC honoree for the RedHawks, earned the Leann Grimes Davidge Memorial Award, which is presented annually to a senior female student-athlete that has excelled in the areas of athletics, scholarship and leadership. The Kokomo, Ind., native, who is the only Miami women's basketball player to earn all-MAC recognition in each of her four seasons, was a three-time team captain for the Red and White and a 2003 Academic All-MAC honoree.

Cusick is only the second Miami women's basketball player to earn the honor, which is named for a former Miami women's tennis coach who perished in a tragic car accident in 1985, joining 1995 graduate Monica Niemann, whose Miami scoring record Cusick broke this past February.