BOSTON – Academic All-Americans David MacKinnon and Laura Rose Donegan are America East’s 2015-16 Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year, the conference office announced Wednesday afternoon. The duo was chosen from a group of 16 student-athletes who were named sport Scholar-Athletes this year.
2015-16 America East Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Male: David MacKinnon, Jr., Hartford
- Baseball Scholar-Athlete.
- First Hartford student-athlete to earn Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.
- Has a 3.94 GPA majoring in accounting.
- First America East baseball student-athlete to be named a first-team Academic All-American.
- Second-team All-Region, America East Player of the Year and first-team All-Conference selection.
- Four-time America East All-Academic selection as a two-sport athlete (men’s soccer, baseball).
Female: Laura Rose Donegan, Sr., New Hampshire
- Women's cross country and women's outdoor track & field Scholar-Athlete.
- First UNH student-athlete to earn Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors since 2002.
- Carries a perfect 4.0 GPA as a political science major.
- Earned first-team Academic All-America honors.
- Finished sixth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championship to earn first-team All-America status.
- Received All-America recognition after a top-30 finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championship in November.
- Was named the NCAA Elite 90 award winner for having the highest GPA amongst top finishers at the NCAA Championship.
MacKinnon and Donegan excelled as student-athletes this year, embodying the conference’s three pillars of the complete student-athlete. The Scholar-Athletes of the Year were voted on by the conference's Student-Athlete Engagement Committee. Each year, the committee elects a Scholar-Athlete in each of the league’s championship sports following the fall, winter and spring seasons and from that group, chooses one male and one female as the conference’s Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
- Listing of all-time America East Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
2015-16 America East Scholar-Athlete releases:
America East is proud to have one of most comprehensive academic awards programs in the country, which honors over two-thirds of its student-athletes for their success in the classroom. Learn more about the conference's academic awards program.
About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.