BOSTON – Twenty of America East’s top cross country student-athletes were named to the 2015 men’s and women’s All-Academic teams on Tuesday. The men’s and women’s squads, consisting of 10 members each, contain student-athletes who excel both academically and athletically.
All-Americans Hassan Omar (UMBC) and Laura Rose Donegan (New Hampshire), along with America East women’s individual champion Christina Melian (Stony Brook) highlighted the selections.
Omar, Maine’s Jessie Orach and UMass Lowell’s Paul Hogan were All-Conference selections on the men’s side who also earned All-Academic honors while Omar, Orach and Vermont’s Dan Maroney are repeat honorees. Binghamton’s Andrew Roache and Jon Vallecorsa, UMBC’s Jon Luckin, New Hampshire’s Mitchell Dutton, Stony Brook's Joseph Clark and Vermont’s Fletcher Hazelhurst rounded out the squad.
On the women’s side, Rose Donegan and Melian were joined by fellow first-team All-Conference honorees New Hampshire’s Brianna Boden and Amber Short, UMBC’s Sophia Cologer and UMass Lowell’s Jaclyn Solimine. Albany’s Molly Pezzullo and Vermont’s Anna Kaplan were second-team All-Conference choices, also voted All-Academic recipients. Binghamton’s Alexis Hatcher and Stony Brook’s Megan Cooney rounded out the selections. Cologer, Donegan, Hatcher, Melian, Pezzullo and Solimine were all repeat choices from last year’s team.
To be eligible for all-academic, student-athletes must have sophomore athletic eligibility, attain a 3.30 minimum grade-point average and be a top-45 finisher at the America East Championship. The team is voted on by a committee made up of America East student-athlete support and athletic communications administrators as well as faculty athletic representatives.
America East is proud to have one of most comprehensive academic awards programs in the country. In addition All-Academic program, Elite 18 Awards are bestowed in each of the conference’s sponsored sports. Additionally, a Scholar-Athlete, someone who distinguishes himself/herself as the top student-athlete in his/her sport, is awarded. From that group, one male and one female is selected the America East Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The conference also recognizes all student-athletes who achieve at least a 3.0 GPA on its Academic Honor Roll, with those achieving a 3.50 average or better receiving Commissioner’s Honor Roll status. The Presidential Scholar-Athlete award recognizes graduating student-athletes who compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher as an undergraduate student. Finally, the Academic Cup is presented to the institution whose student-athletes post the highest grade-point average during that academic year.
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