Junior National Lawn Tennis Champion Heimraj Resaul, who is currently in the United States as a student-athlete, was recently presented with two prestigious awards for both his academic and athletic performances there.
The Guyanese national, who attends the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, is pursuing studies in biomedical science while being part of the university’s tennis team.
Heimraj, for his academic efforts, was placed on the Dean’s List for both semesters after ending his freshman year with a GPA of 3.80 – on a scale of 4.
His racquet virtues saw him landing the Intercollegiate Tennis Collegiate Association (ITA) scholar-athlete award which is basically a recognition of students that excel both academically and in their sport.
Additionally, the US Sciences Tennis was also recognized as an-all academic team, having collectively attained a GPA of over 3.5
“I am extremely proud to finish my first year of college on such a high note. Being on the Dean’s list has always been a goal of mine and I am glad I was able to achieve it for both semesters,” the young man told Stabroek Sport.
He added: “It is also an honour to be recognised as a scholar-athlete, considering the amount of collegiate athletes in the entire United States. This is only the beginning for me and I look forward to competing at this level for many more years to come.”
In 2019, the then 17-year-old was recruited by the University’s Head Men’s Tennis Coach Nick Margiasso who announced the signing of the former Marian Academy student to make up his first recruiting class of 2019. The coach was drawn to his natural qualities.
The coach initially noted that Heimraj “will be our youngest addition to the men’s team and is exactly the kind of talented, positive, coachable guy that will add to our programme on the court. In the classroom, he will represent the University even better,” an oracle that has so far come to past.
