FAIRFAX, Va. -- Former Oklahoma State soccer star Yolanda Odenyo has been named the 2009 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year by the publication Diverse: Issues In Higher Education.
The Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award was established in 1992 to honor minority undergraduate students who exemplify the standards of tennis great Arthur Ashe Jr.
Odenyo was chosen over nine other female finalists for the award. Nominees must compete in intercollegiate athletics, maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.2 and be active on their campuses or in their communities. Approximately 600 male and female student-athletes were nominated for the award this year.
A native of Uppsala, Sweden, Odenyo completed her senior season for coach Colin Carmichael's Cowgirl soccer squad in November 2008.
Odenyo finished her playing career as the most decorated player in OSU soccer history. She was a three-time All-American and earned All-Big 12 honors in each of her four seasons. In 2006, she was the Big 12 Co-Player of the Year, and she earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2008.
In a record-setting senior season for the Cowgirls, Odenyo led the Big 12 Conference with 16 goals and 37 points, both of which set single-season school records, to help OSU to its first-ever Big 12 regular season championship. She was named a first-team All-Big 12 performer for the third consecutive year, and she finished her career as the Cowgirls' all-time leader in goals and points.
In the classroom, Odenyo earned a degree in Family Relations and Child Development in December, graduating with a 3.73 GPA. She was a three-time Academic All-American and first-team Academic All-Big 12 performer.
Odenyo's involvement in the community includes volunteering for Harvest II, the Red Cross and the YMCA, participation in FCA and also serving in the youth ministry program at Mt. Zion Baptist Church.
She is also the organizer of the Score for Sasja Fund, which awards scholarships for poor students to attend high school in Kenya. The fund was named in honor of Odenyo's late sister, who died in an automobile accident.
In December 2007, Odenyo participated in a soccer clinic and educational seminar in Kenya that focused on sex education and AIDS prevention along with the importance of education and staying in school.
