PSAC Releases Spring Top 10 Honorees
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. --- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is pleased to announce its Spring 2018 Top 10 Award recipients, chosen and voted on 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 is given to five males and five females in each athletic season; fall, winter and spring.
The Spring 2018 awards winners are Slippery Rock’s Chris Anastas, Shippensburg's Alex Balla, West Chester’s Sami Barnett, IUP’s Austin Cooper, Kutztown’s McKenzie Fagan, Mercyhurst’s Saioa Gomez de Segura, West Chester’s Jared Melone, Slippery Rock’s JJ Ollio, Shippensburg’s Danielle Sciremammano and IUP’s Luise von Agris.
Balla landed on a Top 10 team in each sport season during the 2017-18 academic year.
Gomez de Segura and Cooper garnered recognition for the third time in their respective careers.
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Chris Anastas (Monaca, Pa. / Central Valley), Slippery Rock
Baseball - Junior
Major: Secondary Education
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
Named the PSAC Champion Scholar at the league baseball tournament for a second consecutive year as well as earning Google Cloud Academic All-America honors...Served as The Rock’s No. 3 weekend starter ... Earned PSAC West Pitcher of the Week accolades once ... Made nine starts and two relief appearances ... Went 5-1 with a 3.91 ERA and 51 strikeouts over 50.2 innings pitched ... Recorded a team-low .259 batting average against ... Threw one complete game and one shutout ... Held right-handed batters to a .228 batting average against (33-for-145) ... Tallied at least five strikeouts in a game in five contests...
A two-time PSAC Champion Scholar (2017 / 2018) ... 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-American.
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Alex Balla (Quakertown, Pa. / Quakertown Community), Shippensburg
Men's Outdoor Track & Field - Senior
Major: Marketing & Entrepreneurship (Dual major)
Cumulative GPA: 3.78
2017-18 CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team (T&F/XC)...finished 4th in 10K, 5th in 5K at PSAC Outdoor Championships...the performances were the seventh and eighth career Top 10 finishes in conference outdoor distance races and helped SU win its 10th straight PSAC Championship (third PSAC Men’s Triple Crown)...Two-Time Academic All-District Honoree...2017-18 PSAC Winter Top 10 Award Winner...2017-18 PSAC Fall Top 10 Winner...2018 INDOORS: 2018 PSAC Indoor Championships Most Valuable Track Athlete...2018 PSAC Champion in 3K (8:34.75)...2018 PSAC Champion in 5K (15:00.26)...just the sixth man in PSAC history to achieve the long-distance double (3K and 5K titles) at the PSAC Indoor Championships...2018 USTFCCCA All-Region in 3K (8:37.94 on flat track at Bucknell Tune-Up) and 5K (time at PSACs).
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Sami Barnett (Hometown / Previous), West Chester
Women's Lacrosse - Junior
Major: Nursing
Cumulative GPA: 3.85
IWLCA third team All-America ... CoSIDA Academic All-District 2 first team ... led WCU and ranked third in PSAC in goals scored (60)... ranked second on the team and sixth in the PSAC in points (80)... ranked second on team in draw controls (66) ... scored five goals in a game on five separate occasions... posted a season-best seven points in win over Shippensburg
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Austin Cooper (King of Prussia, Pa. / Upper Merion), IUP
Outdoor Track & Field - Senior
Major: Regional Planning and Economics
Cumulative GPA: 3.88
USTFCCCA All-Atlantic Region in 800 and 1500 meters ... Three top-four finishes at PSAC Championships – 4x800 (first place), 1500 meters (third), 800 meters (fourth) ... Ran third leg on winning 4x800 relay that broke PSAC Championship meet and IUP record ... Ran second fastest 1500 time (3:51.00) in Atlantic Region and fifth fastest 800 time (1:52.26) in region ... Two-time PSAC Top 10 honoree (2017 spring, 2017 fall) ... 2016-17 Academic All-District ... 14-time USTFCCA All-Atlantic Region honoree – eight outdoor, six indoor ... Three-time PSAC Outdoor champion in the 1500 meters ... Four total PSAC Outdoor championships ... Dean’s List ... PSAC Scholar-Athlete.
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McKenzie Fagan (Grove City, Pa. / Grove City), Kutztown
Women's Outdoor Track & Field - Senior
Major: Special Education
Cumulative GPA: 3.96
CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team...USTFCCCA All-Atlantic Region Team...PSAC High Jump Champion...All-PSAC...KU 2018 Coaches Award...2x PSAC Champion...2018 Academic All-America Third Team...2017 Indoor National Qualifier...2x All- PSAC...4x All-Atlantic Region (2x Indoor, 2x Outdoor)...3x PSAC Scholar-Athlete...2017 USTFCCCA All- Academic Team...8x Dean's List Honors...2x D2ADA Academic Achievement Award.
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Saioa Gomez de Segura (Vitoria, Spain / Ikasbidea School), Mercyhurst
Women's Tennis - Senior
Major: Business
Cumulative GPA: 4.00
38-2 in singles play, including 25-0 in duals and 6-0 in PSAC ... 29-7 in doubles, including 22-4 in duals and 5-1 in PSAC ... 2017-18 Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year ... 2017-18 PSAC West Athlete of the Year ... 2017-18 All-PSAC West First Team (Singles) ... 2017-18 All-PSAC West Second Team (Doubles) ... 2017-18 PSAC Singles Champion ... 2017-18 PSAC Doubles Champion ... 2017-18 Atlantic Region Singles Champion ... 2017-18 Oracle Cup Fifth Place (Singles) ... 2017-18 PSAC Champion Scholar ... 2017-18 CoSIDA Academic All-District |
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Jared Melone (North Wales, Pa. / North Penn), West Chester
Baseball - Junior
Major: Accounting/Finance
Cumulative GPA: 3.91
ABCA first team All-America ... CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team ... led NCAA DII in batting average (.469) ... D2CCA second team All-America ...NCBWA second team All-America ... D2CAA Atlantic Region Player of the YearNCBWA Atlantic Region Player of the Year... PSAC East Athlete of the Year... ECAC DII Player of the Year... Philadelphia Inquirer Academic Athlete of the Year... Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area... First Team All-PSAC... NCBWA First Team All-Region... CCA All-Atlantic First Team ... First Team All-ECAC... ABCA/Rawlings first team All-Atlantic Region... CoSIDA Academic All-District Two first team.
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JJ Ollio (Shaler, Pa. / Pittsburgh Central Catholic), Slippery Rock
Men's Outdoor Track & Field - Senior
Major: Health Care Administration & Info Systems Management (Dual major)
Cumulative GPA: 3.71
National championship qualifier in both the shot put and the discus in 2018 ... had the best shot put mark in the PSAC and second best discus mark ... All-Region (top five marks in entire region) in both shot put and discus ... broke 35-year old SRU record in the discus with a career-best of 52.81 meters ... threw career-best mark of 17.30 meters in the shot put ... All-PSAC in both shot put and discus ... helped SRU to a 1-2 sweep in the shot put at both PSAC indoor and outdoor meets this year ... named to first team Google Cloud Academic All-District honors ... graduated with a dual major and three minors and has already been accepted into graduate school in the health information management program at SRU ... All-PSAC in the shot put in all six PSAC championship meets he competed in during his career at SRU ... placed and scored points for SRU in 12 different events over the course of his career at SRU ... All- Region in each of the last four seasons ... SRU record holder ... three-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete and USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree. |
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Danielle Sciremammano (DuBois, Pa. / DuBois Area), Shippensburg
Outdoor Track & Field - Redshirt Senior
Major: Early Childhood Education / Special Education
Cumulative GPA: 3.70
2018 NCAA All-American in 60-meter hurdles…2018 USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year…2018 PSAC Indoor Championships Most Valuable Athlete…2018 PSAC Outdoor Championships Most Valuable Athlete…2018 PSAC Outdoor Champion in 100-meter hurdles (13.71 seconds – just .01 seconds off meet record) and long jump (18-7.25)…earned All-PSAC honors on third-place 4x100-meter relay squad (contributed to 26 total team points)…2018 NCAA Championships qualifier in 100-meter hurdles and long jump (USTFCCCA All-Region in both events)…prior to this season, no Raider in history had broken the 14-second mark in the 100-meter hurdles, yet Sciremammano did so four times in 2018 – with her PR of 13.71 seconds serving as the new school record...14-time PSAC place-winner -- Indoor 60 Hurdles (1st in 2018, 3rd in 2017, 2nd in 2016, 3rd in 2015), Indoor Long Jump (1st in 2018, 4th in 2017, 4th in 2016), Outdoor 100 Hurdles (2nd in 2017, 3rd in 2016, 7th in 2015), Outdoor Long Jump (4th in 2017, 4th in 2016, 4th in 2015), Outdoor 4x100 (4th in 2016)…7-time All-PSAC performer…2017 NCAA Outdoor Qualifier in Long Jump…2-time USTFCCCA All-Academic Honoree (2016, 2017)…4-time USTFCCCA All-Region. |
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Luise von Agris (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany / Adalbet-Stifter-Gym.), IUP
Women's Tennis - Senior
Major: International Business
Cumulative GPA: 3.97
First team All-PSAC West in singles and doubles ... ITA Atlantic Region Arthur Ashe Leadership Award ... PSAC Tournament MVP ... Broke her own IUP single season records for combined (57) and doubles (31) victories ... Also broke IUP career singles, doubles and combined wins records during season – all held by two-time PSAC Athlete of the Year Tanya Timko ... Went 12-0 against PSAC West opponents ... Went 2-0 against nationally-ranked doubles opponents, including win over No. 22 team from Northeastern State in NCAA round of 16 ... Finished season on 10-match doubles win streak ... 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America ... 2016 NCAA Division II Elite 90 ... Four-time ITA Scholar Athlete ... Four-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete ... IUP career record holder for singles wins (99), doubles wins (110), and combined wins (209) ... Owns IUP single season records with 57 combined wins (2017-18) and 31 doubles wins (2017-18) ... Three-time first team PSAC West selection for singles and doubles ... 2018 PSAC Tournament MVP ... 2018 ITA Atlantic Region Arthur Ashe Leadership Award ... 2017 ITA Atlantic Region Player to Watch ... 2016 PSAC Fall Doubles Champion
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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 Spring Top 10 Awards are men’s and women’s tennis, women’s lacrosse, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field.
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.