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Swanson, Armstrong Named Roy Dennis Senior Scholar-Athlete Award Winners
Heptathlete Laura Swanson of Columbus, Ohio, and baseball player Kevin Armstrong of Los Angeles, both ’01, have been awarded the Roy Dennis Senior Scholar-Athlete Award. Winners are selected by staff members, faculty, alumni and athletic department representatives.
Swanson, a mathematics major with a 3.7 grade point average, was co-captain of the track and field team for the past two years. She was awarded the team’s scholar-athlete award in 1998 and 1999, in addition to being voted the team’s most valuable player last season. Swanson has made all-conference in the long jump, high jump and 100-meter hurdles for the last three years. She twice met the NCAA’s provisional qualifying standard in the heptathlon. Swanson also helped coach high jumpers at Eagle Rock High School.
Academically, Swanson spent time in Ecuador refining her Spanish skills, volunteered at the Lincoln Heights Tutorial Program, and taught at the Los Angeles Boys and Girls Clubs. She created a text and workbook for middle school students that introduced the youths to advanced mathematical ideas such as fractals.
Armstrong, an economics major with a 3.2 grade point average, played third base, pitched and posted remarkable offensive statistics. Batting .361 last season, Armstrong led the Tigers with 13 doubles and 45 RBIs. He also slammed a record-breaking 12 home runs. On the mound, Armstrong posted a 3-0 record. He was first-team all-conference last season as well as a co-team captain and co-MVP.
Armstrong recently earned election into Omicron Delta Epsilon, the national economics honorary society. “In managerial economics, Kevin wrote by far the best memo – out of 38 students – on a difficult assignment related to one of our weekly Harvard Business School cases,” said Professor Woody Studenmund, Armstrong’s adviser. In his spare time, Armstrong volunteered at Eagle Rock Elementary School, Northeast Trees, and Habitat for Humanity. He also was a financial analyst intern with Paramount Pictures.
The Roy Dennis Senior Scholar-Athlete Award is named after the 1933 Occidental graduate who, from 1935-70, coached several Oxy sports. Dennis also served as athletic director.