American East Conference

A committee of athletics administrators and NCAA Faculty Athletics Representatives chose the honorees from the nearly 3,700 student-athletes who competed at America East institutions last year. Each honoree was a starter or prominent reserve on his or her team and has a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.20. First-year students, including transfer students, are not eligible for these honors.

Rybalko was named an All-American after finishing as the national runner-up in the long jump at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, after winning the long and triple jumps at both the America East Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The biochemistry/microbiology double-major posted a 3.69 grade-point cumulative grade-point average over four years.

Payne, the America East Cross Country Champion and All-American at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, had a 3.85 grade-point average as a biology major.

Senior Pedja Zdravkovic (men's tennis), Chris Holmes (golf) and Katharina Lindner (women's soccer), all of University of Hartford, seniors Emil Bove (men's lacrosse) and Theresa Masse (women's lacrosse), both of University at Albany, senior Dan Hocking (men's cross country) of University of New Hampshire, and junior Kate Abbott (women's swimming) of Maine, are all repeat selections at their respective sports. Zdravkovic, who was twice the Most Outstanding Performer at the America East Men’s Tennis Championship and posted a 73-17 record at No. 1 singles while compiling a 3.65 grade-point average as a visual communication design major, is the only three-time scholar-athlete. Each of the others, with the exception of Holmes who was honored in 2000-01, was a scholar-athlete in 2001-02.

Holmes is a two-time all-conference selection with a 3.92 grade-point average as a economics/finance major. Lindner, a four-time all-conference midfielder, had a perfect 4.00 grade-point average with a dual major in communications and psychology. Bove was an all-championship selection after leading the Great Danes to the America East Championship and compiled a perfect 4.00 grade-point average as a dual major in public policy and economics. Masse, a psychology major with an education/sociology double-minor, posted a 3.69 grade-point average and was a first-team all-conference choice in 2003. Hocking, an environmental science major with a 3.57 grade-point average, qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Abbott is the school record holder in four events and carries a 3.87 grade-point average as a psychology major into her senior season.

University of Vermont senior Grant Anderson (men's basketball), Northeastern University senior Brendan Ryan (baseball), and Boston University senior Kristin Knesek (softball) join Lindner, Bove and Hocking as scholar-athletes who also won America East Championships in 2002-03.

Anderson, a third-team all-conference pick, posted a 3.22 grade-point average as a business administration major while serving as a captain on the first Catamount team to appear in the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Ryan was 4-4 and pitched two shutouts while maintaining a 3.49 grade-point average as a communications studies major. Knesek hit .277 and had a 3.83 grade-point average as an occupational therapy major.

Other scholar-athlete selections included: senior Alexis Ressler (field hockey) of Vermont, Asaf Lubezky (men's soccer) of Hartford, senior Alissa Gibbs (volleyball) of Albany, senior Dawn Cressman (women's basketball) of Vermont, senior Jacob Jentzer (men's swimming and diving) of Maine, senior Liam Revel (men's indoor track and field) of Boston University, Jonathan Brims (men's outdoor track and field) of Stony Brook and senior Amy Weissberg (women's tennis) of Binghamton University.

Ressler, a first-team all-conference choice, posted a 3.88 grade-point average as a classical civilization major. Lubezky, only the second player to earn America East first-team honors four straight years in men's soccer, carried a 3.63 grade-point average as a economics/finance major. Gibbs, also a first-team all-conference selection, had a 3.55 grade-point average as a computer science major with a mathematics minor. Cressman, a business administration major with a 3.49 grade-point average, scored over 1,000 points and grabbed over 500 rebounds during her career. Jentzer carries perfect 4.00 grade-point average as a biochemistry/psychology double-major, and holds the school record in the 100 butterfly. Revel was a member of the winning distance medley team and compiled a 3.75 grade-point average as a biology major. Brims posted a perfect 4.00 grade-point average as a business management major. Weissberg was an all-conference pick in both 2002 and 2003 and carried a 3.53 grade-point average as a human development major.

America East will select a Men’s and Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year from this list of finalists later this summer.

Member institutions of America East Conference for the 2002-03 academic year included Albany, Binghamton, Boston University, Hartford, Maine, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Stony Brook, and Vermont.