Rochester, Mich. (April 19, 2007) ???C Oakland University???s athletic department held its annual Graduates and Champions ceremony this afternoon to honor the athletic and academic achievements of OU???s student-athletes. Seniors Nicole Piggott (Pewamo, Mich.) from the women???s basketball team and John Van Portfleet (Grand Rapids, Mich.) from the swimming and diving team were recipients of the Hollie Lepley Senior Scholar Athlete Award, presented to the top senior scholar athletes for overall excellence in academic achievement, athletic achievement and service activities. The awards are presented to one female and one male athlete and are named in honor of the founder of Oakland University athletics, Hollie Lepley. Additionally, Oakland???s baseball and women???s basketball teams were recognized for their academic achievements as the men???s and women???s teams with the highest grade point averages. Piggott is a four-year letterwinner for the Golden Grizzlies and has won numerous athletic and academic accolades throughout her career at OU. She is a three-time member of the All-Mid-Continent Conference team and was named to the All-Tournament team after helping lead Oakland to the championship game of the Mid-Con Tournament this past season. Oakland has been to the NCAA Tournament and received its first Women???s National Invitational Tournament bid during Piggott???s tenure. She finished her career ninth on OU???s all-time scoring list with 1,439 points in 115 career games. The clinical lab sciences major has excelled in the classroom as well, recently being named to the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete team. Piggott is also a two-time member of the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV team as well as earning multiple citations to the Mid-Con All-Academic team. Van Portfleet is a four-time letterwinner and two-time captain of the men???s swimming and diving team. He has helped lead OU to the Mid-Con Championship each of his four seasons with the Golden Grizzlies, including the team???s unprecedented eighth straight title this past season. The diver earned All-Conference honors as a freshman and is a two-time member of the Academic All-Conference team.