Tamina Kienka receives All America Sports Scholar award

TAMINA Kienka, who left Nigeria for studies in the United States as one of the top junior tennis players, has been named to the 2015 All America Division 1 Academic men’s team selected and announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America last week.

Earning the distinction of Academic All-American is quite an honour because it celebrates athletes, who have distinguished themselves in academics and sports in the entire USA each year.

“The award is symbolic of Kienka’s scholarly talent,” said Dr. Curtis Lawson, the director of tennis at the North Carolina Central University, where Kienka is a senior (final year).

Tamina Kienka is the first NCCU tennis player to ever earn Academic All-America acclaim and won at the district level in 2014 and 2015.

He played a total of 53 matches in four years at NCCU and capped his collegiate career 7-2 in his nine trips onto the court.

In academics, the 20-year-old from Rivers State, entered the spring semester with a 4.0 grade point average (GPA). A biology (pre-med) and pharmaceutical science major, Kienka received the Department of Biology award for the highest performance by a senior.

He is part of the NCCU’s Honours Programme, A chancellor’s scholar, Thurgood Marshall leadership Institute Scholar, undergraduate research scholar at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and president of the NCCU’s Student Honour Council.

In further remarks, Dr Lawson said: “TK, as we affectionately call him, came in as a spry 16-year-old with an academic profile that qualified him for admission into some of the top academic institutions in the country.

“We are extremely proud of TK, and this award falls in line with the brand of student-athletes we strive to recruit, mentor and send into the world to do great things.”

Kienka is the second NCCU student-athlete to attain Academic All-America status since the institution transitioned to Division 1 over a decade ago.