Kaleb Roush, Colorado College, Men's Swimming

KALEB ROUSH OF COLORADO COLLEGE, a senior on the men's swimming and diving team, has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Male Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week ending Sunday, March 2, 2014.

Whether it be in the pool, in the classroom or somewhere else on campus, Roush has excelled as a teammate and mentor for members of CC’s swimming and diving team, as well as for many first-year physics and biology students.

If Roush’s teammates want to know what kind of drops in times they can expect during their careers, all they need to do is a little research into what their co-captain has accomplished in the 400-yard individual medley at the SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships.

During his freshman campaign, the native of Windsor, Colo., posted a season-best time of 4:23.26, which was good for seventh place. At the 2013 championships, Roush set the school record in the 400 IM, touching the wall in 4:10.84 during the preliminaries. He also placed third in the championship finals, as well as fifth in the 200 IM and sixth in the 200 butterfly.

Roush, who owns a 3.98 grade-point average as a biochemistry major with a minor in mathematics, has made three consecutive appearances on the SCAC’s Honor Roll.

Throughout his career, Roush has participated in several community service endeavors. He has been very active in Colorado College’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), serving as vice president during the 2013-14 academic year and participating in the ‘Parent’s Night Out’ fundraisers.

He also has been an SCAC representative since 2011, communicating student-athlete perspectives regarding proposed NCAA legislation and representing CC athletes in the conference video shoots promoting sportsmanship.

Roush, who was voted one of the team’s captains this season, played an active role in organizing the team's annual Hour of Power event that raises awareness and funding for sarcoma research.

His leadership skills have extended far beyond the deck at Schlessman Natatorium, as Roush also has been a fixture in the halls of the college’s science buildings throughout his last three years on campus.

He has served as a research and laboratory assistant in the college’s biology and physics departments, beginning began as a learning assistant and FYE mentor in the fall of 2012. More recently, his duties have included directing and supervising student usage of Colorado College’s atomic force microscope, as well as analyzing the quality and utility of the data generated by students.

His research included investigating the morphological and physiological roles of five different genes expressed during long-term stationary phase in Acinetobacter baylyi through atomic force microscopy, fluorescent microscopy, and the generation of growth curves.

Roush also has participated in summer research projects. In 2012, he assisted Dr. Murphy Brasuel in CC’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

The following year, he worked alongside Dr. Stephen Dewhurst in the Microbiology and Immunology Department at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, researching HIV vaccine development using nano particles.

After graduating in May, Roush plans to take a year or two before applying to graduate school where he hopes to enroll in microbiology and immunology programs. During that time, he hopes to gain more laboratory experience by participating in a variety of fellowships and internships.