Seniors Brendan Whitten of the Men's Lacrosse team and Jill Houle of the Women's Soccer team have been honored as recipients of the male and female James R. Russo Awards.
 
The James?R.?Russo Award is given annually by the Department of Athletics to the two male and female senior student-athletes who have the?highest cumulative grade?point averages.?
 
Whitten is a four-year midfielder on the Men's Lacrosse team, coming to Roger Williams from Kennebunk, Maine. Over the course of his four seasons, he has played in 53 games with 26 starts for the Hawks. For his career, he has totaled 87 ground balls and 36 caused turnovers along with 14 points on eight goals and six assists. 
 
In his sophomore season, he was selected to the All-CCC Third Team after playing in all 19 games on the year and finishing the season with 28 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. For his efforts in the classroom, Brenden was also named to the CCC All-Academic Team in his sophomore and junior years, and will be selected once more in June. Last week, he was named an All-CCC Third Team selection and honored as the CCC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Slated to graduate in the coming weeks with a degree in Finance, Whitten currently sports a 3.97 cumulative GPA.
 
Houle is a four-year defender on the Women's Soccer team and a native of Hudson, New Hampshire. During her time in Bristol, she has played in 31 games with three starts. In her freshman season, Houle played in 13 games with one start. In her second season for RWU, she appeared in eight games including one start, firing a single shot on the season. Houle was also named to the Commonwealth Coast Conference All-Academic team for the fall.
 
As a junior, Houle played in 10 games for Roger Williams with one start. That season, she was once again named to the CCC All-Academic team for the fall. Then again this past January, she was named to the CCC All-Academic team for the third consecutive season. Houle is in the Legal Studies Program and enters her final days at Roger Williams with a perfect 4.0 GPA.