COLORADO SPRINGS — Former New Mexico volleyball student-athlete Kelly Williamson was named the 2011-12 Mountain West Female Scholar-Athlete on Tuesday. The league presents the annual award to male and female athletes who achieve excellence in academics, athletics and community involvement.

“She “epitomizes what a student-athlete is and should be,” said UNM volleyball coach Jeff Nelson.

Williamson graduated summa cum laude (3.98 grade-point average) in May with a degree in conservation biology and a minor in sustainability studies. A four-year letter winner for the Lobos’ volleyball program, she closed out her playing career with first-team All-Mountain West accolades in 2011.

In addition to completing a four-year stint as a member of the UNM Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Williamson served for one year as a student senator, promoting campus legislation and community service projects that focused on environmental concerns. She also used her experience with the UNM volleyball program as the basis for her honors thesis, proposing ways to offset the environmental impact of the team’s travel with on-campus renewable energy resources.

Williamson is the fifth Lobo to win the league award and the first since 2006-07. Others: Matthieu Amgwerd (1999-2000, men’s tennis), Sean Murray (2003-04, baseball), Maja Kovacek (2005-06, swimming and diving) and Lars Loseth (2006-07, skiing/soccer).
— This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal