University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s Vanessa Virbitsky has been named one of two 2008 winners of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Judy Kruckman Women’s Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete Award.

Virbitsky maintains a 3.61 cumulative grade point average as a major in both political science and journalism. She has been recognized on the Dean’s List and Honor Roll and is a three-time selection to the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll.

A two-year team captain, Virbitsky is a four-time All-WIAC recipient. She was a member of UW Oshkosh’s national championship team last season and is a four-time All-American, including the 2007 national champion in the vault. She will be competing in the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise in the national championships March 28-29 in Cortland, N.Y.

She is a member of the Public Relations Student Society of America and has served a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and the American Cancer Society. Virbitsky has worked as an assistant in UW Oshkosh’s Sports Information Office, as a reporter in the school newspaper and as a student communications specialist for UW Oshkosh’s Integrated Marketing and Communications department.

The WIAC Scholar-Athlete Award is named after Judy Kruckman and sponsored by Hewlett-Packard. Kruckman served as Assistant Commissioner for the WIAC from 1996-98. Prior to this appointment, she functioned as Commissioner of the Wisconsin Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1984-96.

In order to be nominated for the scholar-athlete award, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.25 grade point average, be in their last year of competition, or on schedule to graduate this academic year, and have competed for a minimum of two years.