Lock Haven, Pa. - The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) is pleased to announce its Spring 2011 Top 10 Award recipients. The PSAC Top 10 Awards, which are selected by the PSAC’s sports information directors, recognize student-athletes who excel in both the classroom and in the area of competition. The PSAC Top 10 Awards are in their 14th season of existence, having been initiated in the 1997-98 academic year.
The Top 10 Awards recognize 10 outstanding student-athletes, five male and five female, for each athletic season: fall, winter and spring. The Spring 2011 Top 10 Award winners are Bryan Beegle of Shippensburg, Kolten Hoffman of Gannon, Stephen Schelander of Shippensburg, Drew Slocum of Millersville and Chris Warning of Slippery Rock on the men’s side; while the women’s winners are Katie D’Ambrosia of East Stroudsburg, Mary Eshenour of Gannon, Rose Mascoli of East Stroudsburg, Neely Spence of Shippensburg and Laura Sullivan of Bloomsburg. Of the 10 honorees, only Hoffman is a repeat winner of a Spring Top 10 award, having also been honored last spring. However, three other student-athletes have also previously been Top 10 recipients, either this year or last year or both, in either the fall or winter seasons. Both Beegle and Warning were also Winter Top 10 honorees this year as part of their respective schools’ indoor track & field teams. Spence garners her fourth career Top 10 honor, her first spring award and her third Top 10 accolade of this academic year, having also been honored on the fall and winter teams this year and on the winter team last season. In garnering Top 10 awards in all three of the seasons this academic year, Spence becomes the first PSAC student-athlete to accomplish that feat since Bloomsburg’s Amber Hackenberg in 2007-08.
Additionally, two of the Top 10 honorees have also been honored this spring as CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-Americans®. Hoffman was named to the first team of the baseball Academic All-America team while Eshenour was named to the third team of the Academic All-America at-large squad. Four other student-athletes - Beegle, Harpp, Mascoli and Spence - are currently on the ballot for the Academic All-America Cross Country/Track & Field teams that will be announced next week.
To be a candidate for the PSAC Top 10 Awards, a student-athlete must have achieved a minimum of a 3.50 cumulative grade point average and must be a starter or key reserve with legitimate athletic credentials for their respective team. The spring sports eligible for consideration for the Spring Top 10 Awards are baseball, softball, lacrosse, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s outdoor track & field. At the end of the academic year, all PSAC Top 10 Award winners from the entire academic year are eligible for the PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards, given to one male and one female candidate at the end of the academic year.
Listed below are biographies for the Spring 2011 PSAC Top 10 Award winners:
Bryan Beegle, Shippensburg
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field, Senior
Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg
Major: Criminal Justice
Cumulative GPA: 3.806
Named to the 2010-11 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country First Team…Finished 5th in the 1,500 meters at PSACs to help Shippensburg culminate its season with the first PSAC “Triple Crown” in league history…USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the 1,500 meters (3:49.11 at Fred Hardy Invitational)…Qualified to compete at national championships in 1,500 but could not travel to California due to a previous commitment…Posted career PR in the mile (4:07.83 at Millersville Metrics)… 2010-11 PSAC Winter Top Ten selection…2009-10 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District Men's Track & Field/Cross Country Second Team…2-time selection to the USTFCCCA Division II All-Academic Track and Field Team…2008-09 Shippensburg University Men’s Student Athlete of the Year…2011 Indoor National Champion in the DMR (served as anchor leg)…Inherited the baton in fourth place and ran courageous 1,600-meter leg to win SU its first-ever relay title, either indoors or outdoors…Earned first-ever individual All-American award with second place in the 5K…2011 PSAC Indoor Champion in the DMR…All-PSAC indoors in mile and 3K with second-place finishes…Earned indoor All-Region honors in mile and 5K with a NCAA provisional mark at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational that got him to nationals…Broke SU’s 1K record at Bucknell Heptagonal…5-time NCAA indoor provisional qualifier…2-time NCAA outdoor provisional qualifier…4-time PSAC champion…2009 PSAC Indoor Meet MVP…13-time PSAC placewinner…9-time All-PSAC award winner… Instrumental in the Raiders winning their first PSAC XC championship in school history…Achieved a sensational 8K time of 24:34 on the E.P. ‘Tom’ Sawyer Park course that later hosted the national championships…Finished third at the PSAC meet and sixth at the regional meet with a 10K time of 31:48 before placing 67th at the Division II National Championships.
Katie D’Ambrosia, East Stroudsburg
Women’s Tennis, Senior
Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown
Major: Exercise Science
Cumulative GPA: 3.90
2011 PSAC East Athlete of the Year…9-3 singles (7-1 at No. 2, 5-0 in PSAC East); 9-7 doubles (6-5 at No. 1, 4-2 in PSAC East)…2nd team Capital One Academic All-District…First ESU women’s tennis player to be named PSAC East Athlete of the Year and Academic All-District…4-time All-PSAC East in doubles and 3-time All-PSAC East in singles…Freshman of the Year in 2007-08…108 combined career victories (59-30 in doubles, 49-28 in singles)…Played No. 1 doubles last three years after playing No. 2 as a freshman…Four-year starter at No. 2 singles…Helped ESU to two PSAC Tournament appearances (2009, 2011) and first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance (2010, 20-6 in doubles, 17-6 in singles).
Mary Eshenour, Gannon
Lacrosse, Senior
Waterloo, N.Y./Waterloo
Major: Pre-Physical Therapy
Cumulative GPA: 3.85
68 goals, 10 assists, 78 points, 2 game-winning goals, 43 ground balls, 40 draw controls, 25 caused turnovers, 18 matches...Led Gannon to a 12-5-1 record, a national ranking and PSAC Tournament berth…Ranked second among all NCAA Division II players in goals (68) and 12th in points (78)...Ranked No. 1 in the PSAC in goals per match (3.78) and ranked fourth in points per match (4.88)...Her 68 goals this season represented the fifth-highest single-season mark in school history, tying her total from the 2010 campaign…Named to the Capital One Academic All-District II women's at-large first team and to the Academic All-America women’s at-large third team…Named to the IWLCA All-America, the IWLCA All-Region and All-PSAC first teams this season…Is Gannon's all-time leader in goals (246)...Ranks third all-time at Gannon in career points (290) and 13th in career assists (44)...Entered the season as the top active scorer in NCAA Division II…Is a four-time all-region selection and PSAC Scholar-Athlete…Received the NCAA Division II Athletics Directors Association (ADA) Academic Achievement Award last season…Named 2010-11 Gannon Female Senior Student-Athlete of the Year.
Kolten Hoffman, Gannon
Baseball, Senior
West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex
Major: Mathematics
Cumulative GPA: 4.00
.293 batting average, 12 runs, 8 doubles, 27 RBI, .379 slugging percentage, 17 walks, .401 on-base percentage, 4-4 stolen bases, .988 fielding percentage…Hit .375 with two outs and drove in a run 64.3 percent of the time when hitting with a runner on third base and less than two outs…Had seven multiple-hit games and six multiple-RBI games. Named to the Capital One Academic All-America baseball first team…Is the first baseball student-athlete in school history to be named to the Academic All-America first team and only the second in school history to earn Academic All-America honors…Became the 30th student-athlete in school history to be named an Academic All-American and the first since 2009…Was the first Gannon student-athlete to be named to the All-America first team since 2007…Was named to the Academic All-District II first team each of the last three seasons…Concluded his collegiate career third all-time at Gannon in RBI (99), sixth in hits (154), sixth in doubles (34), seventh in base on balls (67), seventh in games played (170), ninth in runs (84) and ninth in total bases (205).
Rose Mascoli, East Stroudsburg
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field, Sophomore
Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon Catholic
Major: Exercise Science
Cumulative GPA: 4.00
All-America in 5K and 10K at NCAA Outdoor Championships…Placed 3rd in 10K and 5th in 5K…2nd in 3K, 3rd in 5K and 5th in 1500 at PSAC Outdoor Championships…Runner-up in 10K at Penn Relays…1st team Capital One Academic All-District in T&F/CC…3-time All-America as a sophomore (24th in cross country, 3rd in 10K, 5th in 5K in outdoor track & field)…First ESU athlete to earn multiple All-America honors at the same NCAA championship…Set school records in 3K (9:54.65), 5K (16:36.98) and 10K (34:39.13) within 26 days during outdoor season…Lowered 10K record to 33:54.74 at NCAA Championships (lowered record from 1986 by 1:59)…3K record was set in 1984 and 5K in 1982…In cross country, placed in the top five in all five meets in regular season, won two titles and set two ESU course records…Placed fourth in region…Also competed in swimming in the winter.
Stephen Schelander, Shippensburg
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field, Junior
Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg
Major: Economics
Cumulative GPA: 3.81
Named to the 2010-11 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country Second Team…Recognized as SU’s 2010-11 Student-Athlete of the Year in April…All-PSAC finishes in the 1,500 (2nd place) and 5K (3rd place) to help Shippensburg culminate its season with the first PSAC “Triple Crown” in league history…USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the 1,500 meters (3:53.94; converted mile time from Millersville Metrics) and the 5K (career PR of 14:28 at Bison Outdoor Classic)…Earned All-PSAC finishes in XC, indoor track and outdoor track this season…2009-10 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District Men's Track & Field/Cross Country Second Team selection…12-time PSAC placewinner and a 7-time All-PSAC award winner…2-time USTFCCCA Division II All-Academic award winner…Previous All-PSAC finishes with indoor 4x800-meter relay squad and outdoor 5K…2-time All-PSAC cross country performer…2-time All-Atlantic Region XC performer…SU’s No. 2 XC runner at NCAA Atlantic Region Championships and NCAA National Championships after finishing as SU’s No. 1 runner at the PSAC Championships…Raiders won their first XC PSAC title in school history this season…Aided SU to a seventh-place finish at nationals…Finished 50th at NCAA National Championships (31:53 in 10K); a 69-second improvement from his previous run at the national championships in which he was SU’s No. 1 runner in 2009…Finished 8th at NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships (31:55 in 10K)…Crossed the tape in second place at the PSAC Championships…Was the team’s No. 3 runner at the Greater Louisville Classic…Posted Top 10 finishes in his other two races of the season.
Drew Slocum, Millersville
Men’s Tennis, Senior
Shavertown, Pa./Dallas
Major: Biology
Cumulative GPA: 3.86
Named All-PSAC Singles with a 14-9 overall record. Team with Preetham Moras to win the PSAC Doubles Championship in the fall…The duo went 15-8 in doubles action…He led Millersville to a third-place finish in the PSAC and a NCAA Tournament appearance…Went 2-0 in the PSAC Tournament…Named Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District 2 At-Large First Team in 2011…A three-time PSAC Scholar Athlete.
Neely Spence, Shippensburg
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field, Junior
Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg
Major: Human Communication Studies
Cumulative GPA: 3.87
Named a 2010-11 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team selection…Won a national championship in the 5,000 meters - her third straight - to cap off her collegiate season…Set the all-time Division II record in the 5K with a time of 15:33.83 at the prestigious Mt. Sac Relays that will allow her to compete at the USA Track & Field Championships in June…Improved her PSAC record in the 3K with a "gold watch" victory of 9:10.82 at the 2011 Penn Relays…Named the 2011 USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Track Athlete of the Year and PSAC overall meet MVP after winning conference championships in the 1,500, 3K and 5K…SU won its second consecutive conference "Triple Crown" by achieving titles in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track…Through three seasons of outdoor track she has won seven PSAC championships, broken three conference records, shattered four school records and claimed three national championships…2010 USTFCCCA Division II Women’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year…2010 NCAA Division II Women's Sportsmanship Award winner…2009-10 ESPN/CoSIDA Third Team Academic All-American…2009-10 PSAC Winter Top Ten Award Winner…2010-11 PSAC Fall Top Ten Award Winner…2010-11 PSAC Winter Top Ten Award Winner…2-Time USTFCCCA All-Academic Team member…Nominated for 2010-11 Honda Division II Athlete of the Year award…Selected to speak at 2011 NCAA National Convention in San Antonio, representing Division II student athletes…Named PSAC Athlete of the Year after all nine of her collegiate seasons to date (cross country [3], indoor track [3], outdoor track [3])…2009 USATF Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year…Organized the R.U.N. club to promote fitness and wellness among students at the Grace B. Luhrs Elementary School located on the Shippensburg University campus…Advised the “Thrive Africa” fund-raiser to aid a humanitarian effort in South Africa…Spoke at the NCAA convention with president Mark Emmert.
Laura Sullivan, Bloomsburg
Women’s Tennis, Senior
Dingman’s Ferry, Pa./Delaware Valley
Major: Elementary Education/Early Childhood
Cumulative GPA: 3.95
Season singles record: 9-4…Season doubles record: 11-3 (four different partners)…Went 2-0 in doubles during PSAC tournament, notching wins over pairs from IUP (8-2) and West Chester (8-2)…Posted season records of 3-0 at No. 1 singles and 4-0 in No. 3 slot…Named PSAC-East Player of the Week on April 3 after leading Huskies to win over West Chester with victories in singles and doubles play…2010-11 All-PSAC East, Singles…2010-11 Second Team Academic All-District (Capital One/CoSIDA; at-large)…2009-10 All-PSAC East, Singles…2008-09 All-PSAC East, Singles…2008-09 Arther Ashe Award (ITA, Atlantic Region)…Career singles record: 52-16…Career doubles record: 50-24…Named team MVP in 2010-11…Received PSAC-East Player of the Week honors twice in career…Honored with Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship (Atlantic Region) by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
Chris Warning, Slippery Rock
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field, Senior
Monroeville, Pa./Gateway
Major: Criminal Justice
Cumulative GPA: 3.65
Capital One Academic All-District honoree…Named Most Outstanding Field Athlete at the PSAC Outdoor Championships and PSAC Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year…Scored 30 individual points at PSAC meet…Won three individual PSAC titles…PSAC champion in hammer throw, discus and shot put…Broke Slippery Rock school record in hammer throw at 59.87 meters…Posted second-best discus throw in school history…NCAA provisional qualifier in both hammer and discus…Placed 11th in hammer at NCAA National Championships…Named to USTFCCCA All-Region and All-PSAC in all three throwing events…Posted best throw in the PSAC in all three throwing events…Will be named to USTFCCCA All-Academic team for third consecutive year…Member of the Dean’s List….2011 Outdoor results: PSAC Champion – hammer throw; PSAC Champion – discus; PSAC Champion – shot put; 11th at NCAA National Championships – hammer throw…2010-11 PSAC Winter Top 10 honoree…Also named PSAC Most Outstanding Field Event Athlete for indoor seasons and the Indoor Field Athlete of the Year in 2010-11…Five-time individual PSAC event champion (twice in hammer outdoor, one discus outdoor, one shot put outdoor and one weight throw indoor)…Slippery Rock record holder in the weight throw indoors and the hammer throw outdoors…Two-time Capital One Academic All-District honoree…Member of the Dean’s List in every semester.