2011-12 PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athletes of the Year Joe Wendle of West Chester (left) and Neely Spence of Shippensburg (right).
Lock Haven, Pa. - A pair of PSAC student-athletes that recently completed standout careers as both students and athletes and are now making their mark as professional athletes have been named the 2011-12 PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athletes of the Year. West Chester's Joe Wendle and Shippensburg's Neely Spence have been selected as the recipients of the annual awards as they highlight the new record list of 2,176 overall PSAC Scholar-Athletes that was announced yesterday.
Wendle becomes the first-ever West Chester male student-athlete to earn the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award while Spence earns the women's award for the second straight season. The PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athletes of the Year are presented to the top student-athletes who have achieved at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average while competing at an oustanding athletic level. To be eligible for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards, a student-athlete must have been recognized as a fall, winter or spring PSAC Top 10 award winner in the same academic year. In their 22nd year of existence, the awards were renamed in 2007 to honor East Stroudsburg’s long-time sports information director, Pete Nevins, who passed away earlier that year. Nevins held his position at ESU for 33 years and it is estimated that he wrote articles on more than 12,000 ESU events that covered more than 5,000 student-athletes. The awards are given to one male and one female candidate at the end of each academic year and like the Top 10 awards, are nominated and voted on by the PSAC's sports information directors.
Wendle, who is now playing professional baseball in the Cleveland Indians organization for the Class A Mahoning Valley Scrappers, is just the second West Chester student-athlete to claim the award and the first male. Former Golden Ram lacrosse standout Kim Rochon is the only other previous West Chester student-athlete to have won the award, having been honored following the 2000-01 season. He is also the first baseball student-athlete to garner the award since California's Mike Larson won the second of back-to-back Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards following the 2004-05 season. Wendle led the Golden Rams to both PSAC and NCAA Championships this year as he won the PSAC "triple crown" by leading the conference in hitting (.399), home runs (12) and RBI (59). He also led the league in hits (79) as well as runs, triples, total bases and slugging percentage. He was named the PSAC East Player of the Year and helped lead the Golden Rams to the program's first NCAA baseball championship. The title also marked the first national championship in baseball for a PSAC school, a school from Pennsylvania and a school from the Northeast or Atlantic regions and West Chester is also located further north than any other previous Division II baseball national champion. Following the season, Wendle was also named a CoSIDA/Capital One first team Academic All-American®. The native of Lincoln University, Pa. was a PSAC Spring Top 10 selection and graduated with a 3.59 grade point average while majoring in pre-physical therapy. He was drafted by the Indians in the sixth round of last month's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft with the 203rd overall pick, becoming the highest drafted player out of the PSAC since 1999. He has been one of the top hitters on the Indians' short-season Class A team in Mahoning Valley so far this year as he is hitting a team-leading .356 in 16 games played through this past Sunday.
Spence, who is now a professional runner after turning pro following the 2011 cross country season, wins the award for the second straight season. In doing so, she becomes the fourth female in PSAC history to win back-to-back Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, the fifth overall individual to do so and the first from Shippensburg. It also marks the third straight year that a Shippensburg female was won the award, as Spence's former teammate Mary Dell also garnered the honor in 2009-10. Overall, this marks the fifth time a Shippensburg female has captured the prestigious honor. Spence is the fourth different individual from Shippensburg to win the award and this also marks the fourth time in the last seven years that a Lady Raider has been honored with the award. Spence was also recently selected as the PSAC's nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year. She concluded her Shippensburg career last fall by winning her second straight NCAA women's cross country championship, ending her career as an eight-time NCAA champion, including events won at the NCAA cross country as well as indoor and outdoor track & field championships during her career, and a 10-time PSAC Athlete of the Year. She became the first athlete in PSAC history to be named an Athlete of the Year for four straight seasons in any sport, accomplishing the feat in women's cross country. Also in cross country, Spence was a three-time Division II All-American, and a four-time NCAA Atlantic Region and PSAC Champion, becoming the first athlete in PSAC cross country history - male or female - to win four PSAC individual championships. Spence graduated with a 3.85 cumulative grade point average and a degree in human communcation studies. Spence ended her career as three-time CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American®, garnering third team honors as a sophomore, second team accolades as a junior, and wrapping up her career with a first team honor this year. She was a PSAC F all Top 10 Award recipient this past academic year. Her full and lengthy list of accomplishments can be found here.
Neely Spence, Shippensburg
Women's Cross Country, Senior
Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg
Major: Human Communication Studies
Cumulative GPA: 3.85
Important Statistics from Current Season: 2011-12 Capital One Academic All-America First Team selection...2011 D-II Women's XC National Champion (20:53, 6K)...2011 USTFCCCA D-II Women's XC Scholar-Athlete of the Year...2011 USTFCCCA D-II XC Female Athlete of the Year...2011 PSAC Fall Top 10 Award Winner...2011 NCAA Atlantic Region champion...2011 PSAC champion...2011 USTFCCCA Division II Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year...2011 PSAC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year...won five of her six races.
Outstanding Academic and Athletic Accomplishments and/or career highlights: Three-time Academic All-American (3rd team in '09-10, 2nd team in '10-11, 1st team in '11-12)...concluded collegiate XC career as 2-time national champion, 3-time All-American, 4-time NCAA Atlantic Region champion and 4-time PSAC champion...capped off XC career with victories in 22 of 27 races...remains only person to be named PSAC Athlete of the Year in all of their collegiate seasons of competition (10)...became first athlete in PSAC history to become a four-time PSAC Athlete of the Year in a sport (WXC).
Joe Wendle, West Chester
Baseball, Senior
Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove
Major: Pre-Physical Therapy
Cumulative GPA: 3.59
Important Statistics from Current Season: BA-.399; Runs-64; Hits-79; 2B-19; 3B-9; HR-12; RBI-59; TB-152; SLG-.768; SF-7; SB-ATT=12-13; E-9; FLD-.967
Outstanding Academic and Athletic Accomplishments and/or career highlights: 3x 1st team All-America (ABCA, NCBWA, Daktronics) ... Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Performer of the Year ... 1st team Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America ... PSAC Spring Top 10 Award Winner ... ABCA Gold Glove Award Winner ... PSAC East Player of Year ... 1st team All-PSAC East ... ECAC Player of Year ... 1st team All-ECAC ... Tino Martinez Award semifinalist ... named to DII national finals all-tournament team ... won the proverbial triple crown in PSAC, leading the league in average, home runs, RBI ... led West Chester University to Division II national championship ... one of only two players in WCU history with more than 250 career hits and 400 career total bases ... ranks among school's Top 10 in 11 offensive categories ... 3x 1st team all-conference selection during his playing career ... 8x WCU AD academic honor roll ... 3x D2 ADA academic honor roll ... 3x PSAC academic honor roll ... drafted in the 6th round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Entry Draft by the Cleveland Indians.