The awards are bestowed annually by the Great Lakes Valley Conference to one male and one female athlete that display academic excellence, athletic ability and achievement, character and leadership. Hobbs and Christie will be recognized tomorrow at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car GLVC Awards Banquet at the Drury Plaza Hotel in St. Louis, with their respective school’s faculty athletic representative accepting the award on their behalf.

Christie, a decorated long-distance runner for the Rangers’ cross country and track and field teams, will be in Pueblo, Colo., preparing for the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship, for which she qualified in the 1,500 meters. Hobbs, the GLVC’s Player of the Year, signed a professional contract with the McDonalds Meteors of the Queensland Basketball League last week and was promptly shipped to Australia to begin practicing with the team.

While starting all 133 games for the Knights, and helping them to wins in 111 of those contests, Hobbs maintained a 3.53 grade point average in criminal justice, excelling both on and off the hardwood. He graduated Bellarmine as the school’s leader in assists, steals, three-point field goals made and games played. In addition to receiving the conference’s top honor on the court, Hobbs was named National Player of the Year by both the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Basketball Times despite being only the third-leading scorer for the Knights this past season. The 2009 GLVC Freshman of the Year, who guided BU to the 2010 and 2011 GLVC Championships, also led the Knights to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, which included the 2011 national title and a trip back to the national semifinals in 2012. Hobbs was also lauded throughout his career for his handling of the ball and court awareness, having ranked in the top 10 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio in each of his four seasons. 

Off the court, the New Albany, Ind., native was named a second-team Capital One Academic All-American this past year after being tabbed as the GLVC Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2011 and Academic All-Conference in each of his four years on campus. Recently, Hobbs was the recipient of the Student Excellence Award, given by the Bellarmine Criminal Justice Studies Department to one graduating senior who demonstrates not only academic excellence, but also the quality of character that makes the person an ideal role model for all graduates in the department. In fact, Hobbs’ research on the war on drugs and the role in which NAFTA and other free-trade agreements have had on the issue was selected to be presented at Butler University’s Undergraduate Research Conference this past April.

An active member in the community, Hobbs often volunteered at Kosair Children’s Hospital, the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, and the Salvation Army Angel Tree Distribution Center. He has also served as an intern for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Hobbs’ award marks the fourth time a Bellarmine student-athlete as received the GLVC Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award. Tom Schurfranz earned the honor both in 1991 and 1992, while Ronald Brooks was recognized following the 2000-01 season.

Christie has exemplified the type of leader head cross country and track and field coach Micah VanDenend wants in his program. A native of Somers, Wis., Christie finished her career as a nine-time All-Conference honoree in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field, while also being tabbed as the 2007 GLVC Freshman of the Year in cross country and the 2009 GLVC Indoor Distance Medley Relay Champion. 

She is a six-time qualifier for the NCAA Track and Field Championships, having competed in the mile and distance medley at the 2009 indoor event, the mile at both the 2010 and 2011 indoor championships, and the 5,000 and 1,500 meters at the 2012 indoor and outdoor competitions, respectively. Christie has earned All-America accolades in both track and cross country. 

A nursing major with minors in Spanish and sociology, Christie boasts a 3.845 grade point average, is a six-time Academic All-American, and will soon become a 10-time Academic All-GLVC honoree. She has also received an award for tallying the highest GPA for a nursing major, was the recipient of the Goldstein-Clark Endowed Scholarship for Nursing, and earned the Senior Student Involvement Award for her efforts in the classroom.

In addition to the honors for her schoolwork, Christie has made quite the impact on campus and in the surrounding communities. She served as a doctoral research assistant, was a member of the Student Nurse’s Association at Parkside, which allowed her to plan and raise funds for galas to benefit the Special Olympics and March of Dimes, and was also a mentor for foreign exchange students in 2009 as well as for middle school children through the Big Brother/Big Sister Racine/Kenosha chapter in 2012.

Christie becomes just the second Ranger to be named a Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award winner as Stefanie Strauss was selected in 2004-05. 

The Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award was established prior to the 1990-91 season in honor of Richard F. Scharf, Commissioner Emeritus of the GLVC.