Xavier has 5 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars in 2011-12

Angelica Alexander

Jolie Bellow

Patrice Hightower

Jamaan Kenner

Javon Mead

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana, led by three-time recipient Jamaan Kenner, has five student-athletes recognized as Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars for 2011-12.

Kenner (men's basketball) and Javon Mead (track and field/cross country) are first-team representatives from Xavier. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, a magazine based in Fairfax, Va., sponsors the awards.

Also recognized from Xavier were Patrice Hightower in women's volleyball and Angelica Alexander and Jolie Bellow in women's basketball. Hightower was honored for the second consecutive year.

Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars are student-athletes of color who maintain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.2 and are active on their campuses or in their communities.

Kenner, a May XU graduate from LaPlace, La., and an alumnus of East St. John High School, is the fourth from Xavier to earn the Ashe honor three times. Alexandra Broussard (women's tennis), Kelechi Okoroha (men's basketball} and Terry Richardson (men's tennis) were the others.

Hightower, a May XU graduate from New Orleans and a McGehee School alum, was an All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference setter. Mead, a sophomore from Baton Rouge, La., and a graduate of Baton Rouge Magnet High School, was named third-team Capital One Academic All-America® on Monday. He's a two-time All-GCAC distance runner.

Alexander is a sophomore from Shreveport, La., and a graduate of Byrd High School. Bellow is a sophomore from Natchitoches, La., and a graduate of Natchitoches Central High School. They helped the Gold Nuggets win GCAC Tournament championships and reach the second round of the NAIA Division I National Championship each of the past two seasons.

Mead is an accounting major; the other four are biology/pre-medical majors. Kenner — a two-time Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete and a Pattison Champions of Character Scholarship recipient his senior year — will attend LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans this fall.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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