PSAC Announces Spring 2004 Top Ten Awards
PSAC Announces Spring 2004 Top Ten Awards
(June 8, 2004)
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference has named a group of outstanding student-athletes as the league’s Spring Top Ten Awards winners.
The Top Ten Awards, selected by the PSAC’s sports information directors, recognize student-athletes who distinguish themselves in the classroom, as well as in the arena of competition. The conference designates Top Ten Award winners after each of the sports seasons: fall, winter and spring.
To be a candidate for the Top Ten Awards, a student-athlete must have achieved a minimum of a 3.25 cumulative grade point average and must be a starter or key reserve with legitimate athletic credentials. Only student-athletes from the spring sports season are eligible for the Spring Top Ten Awards. Those sports are: baseball, golf, women’s lacrosse, softball, tennis and track & field.
At the end of the academic year, the league announces the Scholar-Athlete Awards, which recognize student-athletes on all PSAC squads with 3.25 cumulative GPAs or better. Additionally, the PSAC names the top Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of Year.
Following are biographical sketches of the PSAC’s 2004 Spring Top Ten recipients:
Jessica Bungo
Senior, Slippery Rock
Women’s Tennis (Indiana/Indiana)… Bungo, a health and physical education major, carries a 3.60 GPA. This past season she was named the ITA East Region Senior of the Year for women’s tennis, as well as garnering first-team All-PSAC honors for the third time. She compiled a 30-2 dual meet record at No. 1 doubles to earn a No. 9 national ranking, and a 30-4 record at No. 1 singles to secure a No. 20 national ranking. She led Slippery Rock to a third-place finish in the conference tournament and paced her team to its fifth straight NCAA appearance. Bungo, who is the Slippery Rock all-time wins leader, was 85-20 in singles and 86-15 in doubles over her four-year career.
Dan Gale
Junior, East Stroudsburg
Track & Field (Millville, N.J./Millville)… Gale has established a 3.88 GPA in the field of health and physical education. He garnered All-America honors after taking sixth in the men’s javelin with a career-best throw of 207-4. It marked the third straight season that he qualified for nationals. He also captured fourth place in the javelin at the PSAC Championships with a throw of 206-0. Gale, a multisport athlete who is also a member of the Warrior football team, carries the highest GPA on the men’s track and field team.
Page Heath
Senior, Shippensburg
Women’s Lacrosse (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright)… An accounting major, Heath has maintained a 3.944 GPA. An IWLCA second-team All-American, she led Shippensburg to a second-place conference finish. She led the Red Raiders in points (70), goals (45), and was second in assists (25). She holds the Shippensburg career record for points (244) and assists (69). For the third year in a row, she received CoSida Academic All-District first-team honors. Heath is a repeat Top 10 award winner.
Jared Krebs,
Senior, Shippensburg
Baseball (Spring Grove/Spring Grove)… Krebs is a elementary education major who has compiled a 3.779 GPA. This past season he helped lead his Shippensburg squad to a 43-12 overall record and a PSAC Western Division title. The second-team All-PSAC selection batted .331 with 50 hits in 151 at-bats. He recorded eight doubles, two home runs, 19 runs and 26 RBI. In addition, he had a slugging percentage of .424 and an on-base percentage of .409. Krebs was also named to the CoSida Academic All-District first team.
Mike Larson
Junior, California
Baseball (Weyburn, SASK, Canada)… Larson maintained a 3.86 GPA while majoring in criminal justice. He was named PSAC West Athlete of the Year after recording a .401 batting average and a 2.55 ERA on the season. He had 77 hits, which included 17 doubles and seven home runs, as well as 44 RBI. In eight starts and five complete games on the mound, he fanned 33 batters and compiled a 4-3 record. Larson, who helped California to its first PSAC title since 1979, was a first-team All-PSAC West selection as an outfielder and a second-team selection as a pitcher.
Karyn McCready
Senior, Slippery Rock
Women’s Track & Field (Johnstown/Westmont Hilltop)… McCready has established a 3.91 GPA as a health and physical education major. She recently won the NCAA individual title in javelin with a conference record toss of 164-0, breaking the 19 year-old PSAC record by four feet, eight inches. In addition, she won her third successive PSAC individual championship in the javelin and captured the prestigious Penn Relays College Division championships with a toss of 155-2. She is a three-time All-American, and is only one of three female track and field athletes to hold that distinction at Slippery Rock. McCready helped Slippery Rock win back-to-back PSAC team titles in 2003 and 2004.
Yvonne Niederbracht
Senior, Indiana (Pa.)
Women’s Tennis (Petershagen, Germany)… Niederbracht, a biology/pre-med major, carries a 3.77 GPA. As the PSAC Athlete of the Year, she recorded a 22-1 record in singles and went 19-2 in doubles while playing at No. 1 in both. She captured the PSAC individual singles title and reached the finals of the doubles tournament. She finished the season ranked third in the region and 39th in the nation in singles. She led IUP to its third consecutive berth in the NCAA East Region Tournament. Niederbracht is a three-time first-team All-Conference Selection.
Dan Ober
Senior, Millersville
Men’s Track & Field (Pequea/Penn Manor)… Ober has maintained a 3.49 GPA in the field of industrial technology. He holds the top mark in the PSAC in the decathlon (6,674 points; ranked 6th, NCAA-II) and also equaled the Millersville school record in the high jump (6-11; ranked 13th, NCAA-II). He was named the 2004 USTCA Division II East Region Athlete of the Year, as well as receiving All-America honors. He was the 2004 PSAC champion in the decathlon and high jump, and was crowned Outstanding Male Athlete (overall) and Outstanding Make Field Athlete.
Orlando Payton
Junior, Cheyney
Men’s Track & Field (St. Louis, Mo./Beaumont)… Payton, an art major, has accumulated a 3.40 GPA. He was the 2004 PSAC Champion in the 100-meters and 200-meters, recording times of 10.8 and 21.7, respectively. He accounted for 25 of Cheyney’s 27 points at the PSAC Championship and received the coaches award as their outstanding track athlete. Five times over the course of the season, Payton completed the double-double, winning both the 100 and 200 meters on the same afternoon.
Kelly Stewart
Senior, Shippensburg
Women’s Track & Field (Glenmoore/Downingtown)… Stewart holds a 3.941 GPA in the field of psychology. She garnered All-America honors after finishing fourth in the 10,000-meters at the NCAA Division II Championships with a time of 35:34.28. For the third year in a row, she captured a PSAC title, this year winning the 3,000-meters in 10:00.34. She also finished second in the 10,000-meters at the PSAC Championship with a time of 38:06.34. Stewart is a repeat Top 10 selection, winning honors in both the Fall and Winter.