Beavers Bounce into Honors Court

Four Caltech players from the 2009-10 season were recently named to the NABC Honors Court for their achievements in the classroom. Honorees include ZeNan Chang, Christian Clanton, Ryan Elmquist, and Ruslan Kurdyumov.

Chang (biology), Clanton (applied physics), and Kurdyumov (mech E and business econ mgmt) graduated in June and are headed to graduate school while Elmquist is a rising senior and computer science major.

Both Clanton and Kurdyumov are 2-time honorees.

For the full list and official release from the NABC, click here. (Caltech student-athletes appear on page 3).


(From the release)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) today announced the NABC Honors Court, recognizing those collegiate basketball student-athletes who excelled in academics during the 2009-10 season. The NABC Honors Court recognizes the talents and gifts that these men possess off the court, and the hard work they exhibit in the classroom. In order to be named to the Honors Court, an athlete must meet a high standard of academic criteria. The qualifications are as follows:

1. Academically a junior or senior and a varsity player.

2. Cumulative G.P.A. of 3.2 or higher at the conclusion of the 2009-10 academic year.

3. Students must have matriculated at least one year at their current institution.

4. Member of an NCAA Division I, II, III, or NAIA Institution.

Movin' On: Senior Headed to Stanford

Senior Ruslan Kurdyumov, a double major in mechanical engineering and business economics management and two-year member of the basketball team, is headed to the Stanford Mechanical Engineering graduate program. He will continue his work with robotics and controls as part of the masters curriculum that eventually leads to the Ph.D program.

Kurdyumov, who was recently recognized as Academic All-Conference and who was named to the NABC Honors Court in 2009, spent last summer designing a sampling system for the AXEL rover at JPL. Axel is a minimalist tethered rover designed for accessing extreme planetary terrain. This is useful because current rovers can't sample from scientifically interesting locations, such as the sides of crater walls.