July 14, 2005

DETROIT - Wayne State University Director of Athletics Rob Fournier announced today the 2004-05 Male and Female EDS/Student-Athletes of the Year. Candidates were judged on academic distinction, athletic accomplishments, individual involvement and University and community service, as well as coaches recommendation.

Senior fencer Anna Vinnikov (Ma'alot, Israel) and senior swimmer David Lutz (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams) were selected as the 2004-05 Female and Male Student-Athletes of the Year after being nominated by their respective coaches with voting by the athletic department's coaches and administrative staff.

"In a long list of deserving candidates, the accomplishments of Anna and David are singular," said Fournier. "Both have excelled in the classroom, achieved acclaim competitively in leading two successful programs and willingly given of their time in community projects. With both Anna and David representing the EDS Award, they promote to contemporaries and the public the best of WSU athletics."

Vinnikov qualified for the NCAA Championship in the women's epeé for the fourth consecutive season in 2005. She placed 13th in 2002, eighth in 2003, 16th in 2004 and 11th this past March to earn Honorable Mention All-America accolades. She also helped WSU's women's epeé squad to back-to-back Midwest Fencing Conference (MFC) team titles in 2004 and 2005.

In addition to performing well on the fencing strip, she was recently named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV University Division Women's At-Large Second Team for the third straight year.

A finance major, Vinnikov was named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll (term gpa 3.5+) all seven semesters at WSU including four perfect 4.00 terms. She served as the fencing representative to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) the past two of years.

Lutz (pictured left), who helped lead the Warrior men's swimming program to its best national finish (eighth) since 1981, is the first two-time recipient of the Student-Athlete of the Year award. A CoSIDA Third Team Academic All-American in 2005, Lutz also earned All-America honors in the pool at the 2005 NCAA Championship. He placed sixth in the 200 freestyle in a WSU-record time of 1:40.06, and eighth in the 200 backstroke (1:52.09) for First Team All-America honors. He also received All-American Honorable Mention distinction in the 100 backstroke (51.37) and four relays: 200 medley (16th place), 400 medley (15th), 400 free (15th) and 800 free (11th).

The 2005 GLIAC Swimmer of the Year, Lutz is also a three-time GLIAC All-Academic team selection as well as a two-time Academic All-District College Division Men's At-Large First Team honoree. He finished his collegiate career as a 14-time All-American in the pool.

A civil engineering major, Lutz has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll (term gpa 3.5+) six times and the Coach's Honor Roll (term gpa 3.0-3.49) twice.

This was the fourth year EDS has sponsored the WSU Student-Athlete of the Year award. The 2001-02 honorees were softball player Kelly Kashmerick and hockey player David Guerrera, while the 2002-03 recipients were cross country runner Shelly Vickery and hockey player Dustin Kingston. Last year's (2003-04) honorees were men's swimmer David Lutz and women's hockey player Kim Spaulding.

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