PSAC Announces Winter Top 10 Honorees
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Lock Haven, Pa. – The Pennsylvania State Athlete Conference is pleased to announce its Winter 2014-15 Top 10 Award recipients chosen by the league’s sports information directors. The PSAC Top 10 Awards are designed to recognize student-athletes who excel in both the classroom and in athletic competition.
Initiated in the 1997-98 academic year, the Top 10 Award is given to five males and five females in each athletic season: fall, winter, and spring. The winter 2014-15 award winners are
Sabrina Anderson of Slippery Rock,
Adam Blazek of Gannon,
Micah Cattell of Edinboro,
Kristin Day of Clarion,
Yuri Fernandes of IUP,
Emilee Gysegem of Clarion,
Tyler Melius of Slippery Rock,
Lindsay Stamp of IUP,
Ian Vescovi of Pitt-Johnstown, and
Alex Zanella of California.
Blazek, Day, and Vescovi are now two-time winners of the PSAC Top 10 accolade, as they were all honored last winter. Vescovi and Stamp also earned CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-America honors this winter in men and women’s basketball, respectively.
Swimming athletes will have their opportunity to earn Academic All-America honors when the CoSIDA At-Large team is announced in early June. Indoor track and field is combined with outdoor track and field as well as cross country for Academic All-American honors and will also be released in June.
Nine of the ten student-athletes hold a 3.8 or higher grade point average led by 4.0 GPAs from Anderson, Cattell, Day, Gysegem, and Vescovi. Additionally, Zanella holds better than a 3.9 grade point average.
Cattell, an early childhood/special education major, and Gysegem, a biology major, were named PSAC Champion Scholars in men and women’s swimming, respectively.
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 winter sports eligible for consideration for the Winter Top 10 Awards are men's and women's swimming, men's and women's indoor track and field, wrestling, and men's and women's basketball.
At the conclusion of the academic year, all Top 10 Award winners from each season are eligible for the PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards, given to one male and one female candidate.
Listed below are biographies for the Winter 2014-15 PSAC Top 10 Award winners:
Sabrina Anderson, Slippery Rock University
Women’s Indoor Track & Field – Sophomore
Major: Exercise Science/Physical Therapy
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
Anderson won the PSAC championship in the pentathlon, winning four of the five events … Her NCAA provisional score of 3,584 points broke the SRU program record and she also hit the NCAA provisional mark in the high jump while competing in the pentathlon … Anderson earned All-Region honors from the USTFCCCA in both the pentathlon and the high jump … She posted the best pentathlon score in the PSAC this year, the second best high jump clearance (1.72 meters, 5’ 7.75”) in the conference and the fifth best 60- meter hurdle time (9.05 seconds) in the league … Anderson is a three-time All-Region selection, earning the honor in more than one event in each of her collegiate athletic seasons … She is a USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree and a PSAC Scholar-Athlete.
Adam Blazek, Gannon University
Men’s Basketball – Senior
Major: Journalism Communications
Cumulative GPA: 3.66
Averaged 14.1 points per game, 34.8 three-point field goal percentage, 82.9 free throw percentage (92-111), 4.5 rebounds per game, 3.8 assists per game, 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio, 2.3 steals per game in 2014-15 … Was selected to play in the 2015 NCAA Division II All-Star Game as part of the Elite Eight in Evansville, Indiana ... is a two-time Capital One Academic All-District 1st-team selection ... named to the NABC Honors Court ... named a PSAC Scholar-Athlete and received the NCAA Division II ADA Academic Achievement Award every year ... named PSAC Player of the Year as a junior and Freshman of the Year in 2011-12 ... is a three-time All-PSAC selection, including back-to-back first-team honors as a junior and senior.
Micah Cattell, Edinboro University
Men’s Swimming – Junior
Major: Early Childhood/Special Education
Cumulative GPA: 4.00
Was named the 2015 PSAC Champion Scholar for men’s swimming ... part of 200-yard freestyle relay team and 400-yard medley relay teams that finished fourth at PSAC Championships ... was 13th in 100-yard freestyle and 15th in 50-yard freestyle … in 2014 PSAC Championships earned All-PSAC honors with a third place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay ... was also fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relay, was fifth in the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay, and was seventh in 100-yard freestyle … Two-time Edinboro Scholar-Athlete and one-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete.
Kristin Day, Clarion University
Women’s Diving – Senior
Major: Chemistry/Biochemistry
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
2015 NCAA Division II Women’s Swimming & Diving Elite 89 Award winner ... 2015 NCAA D-II 1 Meter National Champion with 506.85 points ... Finished fourth in the 2015 NCAA D-II 3 Meter ... Clarion and PSAC Scholar Athlete … Three-time NCAA National Champion and eight-time NCAA All-American … 2014 NCAA Division II National Champion on 1 and 3 Meter Boards ... 2014 D-II “Female “Diver of the Year” … Set the NCAA record on 3 Meter with 539.35 points in 2014 … 2014 Capital One First Team Academic All-America and Academic All-America of the Year in the At-Large category.
Emilee Gysegem, Clarion University
Women’s Swimming – Senior
Major: Business Management
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
Gysegem was named PSAC Champion Scholar award winner in 2014 and 2015 ... At the 2015 PSAC’s she won the 400 IM with a time of 4:27.09; also placed 3rd in the 200 IM, 6th in 200 backstroke, 7th in 200 butterfly and three relays ... Clarion 400 IM record holder (4:26.35) … Seven-time All-PSAC ... 2014 Capital One Second Team Academic All-American.
Yuri Fernandes, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Men’s Swimming – Junior
Major: Computer Science
Cumulative GPA: 3.8
First place in 100 Yard Freestyle in PSAC Championships ... Broke IUP record in the 200 IM in 1:49.80 at PSAC Championships ... Broke IUP record in 400 IM in 3:55.58 ... Earned All-American honors at NCAA Championships after finishing 10th in the finals of the 400 IM in 3:56.27 ... Set a new IUP record in the 200 Freestyle in 1:39.80 ... Swam with four relay teams that set new IUP records (200 Freestyle Relay, 400 Freestyle Relay, 800 Freestyle Relay, 400 Medley Relay) … Also a member of Dean’s List.
Tyler Melius, Slippery Rock University
Men’s Indoor Track and Field – Senior
Major: Safety Management
Cumulative GPA: 3.8
Melius won two PSAC titles during the indoor season, winning the mile and running the mile leg on the winning distance medley relay team … He earned All-Region honors from the USTFCCCA for owning one of the top five times in the region in both of those events … He finished the year with the third best mile time in the league (4:14.50), the second best distance medley relay time in the league (10:26.95) and the seventh best 800-meter time in the league (1:55.27) … Named to USTFCCCA All-Academic honors following the cross country season … Has been a member of the Dean’s List and a PSAC Scholar-Athlete all four years at SRU.
Lindsay Stamp, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Women’s BBasketbball – Senior
Major: Crimonology
Cumulative GPA: 3.86
2015 Atlantic Region Player of the Year ... 2015 PSAC West Athlete of the Year ... Led PSAC and was 23rd in NCAA with 19.6 points per game ... Ninth in PSAC with 8.3 rebounds per game ... 567 points are fourth all-time in a single season at IUP... Division II Player of the Year candidate … 2015 Capital One Academic All-America third team ... Capital One Academic All-District ... 2015 IUP Female Scholar-Athlete ... Dean’s List ... PSAC Scholar-Athlete ... Two-time first team All-PSAC West.
Ian Vescovi, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
Men’s Basketball – Senior
Major: Mathematics
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
Averaged 13.0 ppg. 7.4 rpg. 2.1 apg. 1.85 blocks/game in 2014-15 … Ranked 36th in Division II in blocks per game and 40th in total blocks (50) … 2013-14 PSAC Winter Sports Top-10 recipient?… 2013-14 and 2014-15 Second-Team All-PSAC West?… 2014-15 Second-Team Academic All-American?… 2013-14 Third-Team Academic All-American?… Three-time First-Team Academic All-District selection?… ended career ranked ranked 21st on the Mountain Cat All-Time Scoring List with 1,076 points and fifth on the Pitt- Johnstown All-Time Rebounding List with 648 rebounds.
Alex Zanella, California University of Pennsylvania
Women’s Indoor Track and Field – Junior
Major: Elementary Education
Cumulative GPA: 3.96
Earned All-America status in the 1-mile run by placing fifth in the finals at the 2015 NCAA Championships ... Owns the program mile record of 4:52.43 ... Captured the league title in both the 800-meter run and 1-mile run at the PSAC Championships ... Repeated as league champion while anchoring the DMR ... Helped lead Cal U to its highest-ever team finish at the PSAC Indoor Track & Field Championships ... Selected the PSAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year ... Named Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the PSAC Championships ... Earned USTFCCCA all- region laurels as a member of the DMR and in the 1-mile run ... Holds a combined three school records (two individual) ... Captured a combined six track & field titles (four individual) in her career ... Qualified as an individual for the 2013 NCAA National Championships in cross country ... Selected to 2014 CoSIDA Academic All-District Team ... Three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree in cross country.