Big East Conference

BIG EAST Announces Sport Excellence Award Winners

7/8/2015 10:47:21 AM

Twenty-one student-athletes recognized in 22 sports

NEW YORK – The BIG EAST Conference has announced the winners of the 2014-15 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Awards, which recognize academic and athletic achievement as well as community service.
 
The Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Awards are given to one student-athlete in each BIG EAST-sponsored sport based on academic credentials, athletic accolades or performances and volunteer service to the community. Student-athletes who have attained junior academic standing and a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 are eligible. The winners are chosen by the BIG EAST Faculty Athletics Representative Council.
 
The list of honorees includes 12 seniors, five juniors and four graduate students.  Sixteen of the winners competed in the NCAAs in their respective sports.  Ten were members of BIG EAST Championship-winning squads.  Five were named Most Outstanding Player at conference championships.  Two were BIG EAST Players of the Year.
 
Butler’s Mara Olson was the only winner in two sports, Women’s Cross Country and Women’s Indoor Track & Field.  Emily Sisson of Providence and Zach Lauricella of St. John’s were the only repeat selections from 2013-14.  Sisson was chosen in Women’s Outdoor Track & Field after being named for Women’s Cross Country last year.  Lauricella won for Baseball. 
 

Sport	Student-Athlete	School	2014-15 Highlights
Baseball	*Zach Lauricella	St. John’s	All-BIG EAST First Team; BIG EAST All-Academic Team for four years; Dean’s List for four years; Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Team Representative, Baseball (since 2012)
Men’s Basketball	Alex Barlow	Butler	2014-15 Senior CLASS Award winner; BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year for a second straight season; second team Academic All-America; CoSIDA Academic All-District; 2014-15 BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award.
Women’s Basketball	KaDeidre Simmons	Seton Hall	Associated Press All-America Second Team; N.Y. Metropolitan Basketball Writers Player of the Year; All-BIG EAST First Team; All-BIG EAST Tournament Team; Seton Hall’s Co-Student-Athlete of the Year; Seton Hall Academic Merit Award Recipient
Men’s Cross Country	Sam McEntee	Villanova	Finished second in BIG EAST Cross Country Championship; BIG EAST Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year; Three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic Team; Villanova Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year; Dean’s List four years.
Women’s Cross Country	Mara Olson	Butler	Finished seventh in BIG EAST Cross Country Championship; NCAA Elite 89 Award Winner for Indoor Track; CoSIDA Academic All-America Team for second straight year; Dean’s List four years; All-BIG EAST for second straight season; One of just three female athletes to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 3,000 and 5,000.
Field Hockey	Chrissy Davidson	Connecticut#	Captain of 2014 NCAA national championship team; NCAA All-Tournament Team; BIG EAST Defender of the Year; All-BIG EAST First Team; BIG EAST All-Tournament Team; U.S. National Team participant; NFHCA All-America Second Team; NFHCA All-Academic Team for three years.
Men’s Golf	Patrick Sanchez	Marquette	BIG EAST Player of the Year; BIG EAST individual co-champion; led Marquette to BIG EAST title and NCAA bid; All-BIG EAST; Selected to play in Latin America Amateur Championship representing Mexico.
Women’s Golf	Alison Kruse	Seton Hall	Tied for fourth while helping team win second straight BIG EAST title and NCAA bid; All-BIG EAST; Career stroke average (77.60) lowest in school history; Inducted into Seton Hall Leadership Fellows Program and Chi Alpha Sigma, National College Athlete Honor Society.
Men’s Lacrosse	Jordan Greenfield	Marquette	Earned Player of the Week honors from BIG EAST, USILA and Inside Lacrosse on Feb. 23; Marquette Male Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year.
Women’s Lacrosse	Courtney Curtis	Cincinnati&	All-BIG EAST Second Team and ranked third in goals scored in the conference.
Men’s Soccer	Axel Sjoberg	Marquette	Drafted in first round of MLS SuperDraft; NSCAA Scholar All-America Third Team; All-BIG EAST First Team for second straight season; Named one of “Ten Best Defenders In College Soccer” by Top Drawer Soccer; Team GPA leader for last three seasons.
Women’s Soccer	Rachel Daly	St. John’s	NSCAA Scholar All-America Team; All-BIG EAST First Team; NSCAA All-Region First Team;  Ranked 70th in Top Drawer Soccer Postseason Top 100.
Softball	Erin Burner	St. John’s	Unanimous selection as BIG EAST Player of the Year; Led the conference with a .439 batting average; Led St. John’s to BIG EAST Regular Season and Championship crowns;  BIG EAST All-Academic Team for four years.
Men’s Swimming & Diving	Ben Mitchell	Seton Hall	BIG EAST Most Outstanding Diver for second straight year; 3-meter and 1-meter BIG EAST Diving Champion; All-BIG EAST Team; NCAA Zone Championships; Seton Hall Senior Male Student-Athlete of the Year; Recipient of Seton Hall Academic Merit Award.
Women’s Swimming & Diving	Kaisa Kollanus	Villanova	Won all seven of her events to help team win BIG EAST Swimming & Diving title; BIG EAST Most Outstanding Women’s Swimmer;  Set four of her six school records in 2014-15; Dean’s List for six semesters in her career; Two-time BIG EAST All-Academic Team.
Men’s Tennis	Erick Reyes	St. John’s	BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player for second straight year while helping St. John’s to team title and NCAA bid also for a second straight season.
Women’s Tennis	Patricia Fargas	DePaul	All-BIG EAST; Helped team win BIG EAST Championship crown; Helped team advance to second round of the NCAA Championship for the first time in school history; Had 24-7 singles record; was first DePaul player to advance to the ITA Midwest Regional twice in her career; ITA Scholar-Athlete for four years.  Dean’s List every quarter.
Men’s Indoor Track & Field	Matt Babicz	DePaul	NCAA All-America First Team after placing seventh in the shot put at NCAA Indoor Championship; also qualified for NCAA Outdoor Championship; All-BIG EAST; won shot put at BIG EAST Indoor Championship; BIG EAST Institutional Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Women’s Indoor Track & Field	Mara Olson	Butler	NCAA Elite 89 Award Winner; CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team for second straight year; Dean’s List four years; All-BIG EAST for second straight season; One of just three female athletes to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 3,000 and 5,000;  Finished seventh in BIG EAST Cross Country Championship.
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field	Patrick Tiernan	Villanova	NCAA All-America First Team in the 5,000 after finishing 10th; Penn Relays champion in the 4XMile Relay; Won BIG EAST 5,000 the last two years and helped team win last two BIG EAST Outdoor titles.
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field	*Emily Sisson	Providence	Was the national champion in the NCAA Outdoor and Indoor 5,000 meters; NCAA All-America First Team for a second time; Set a conference record while winning the BIG EAST Outdoor 5,000 and an NCAA record while winning the BIG EAST Indoor 5,000; Was BIG EAST Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a junior;  Dean’s List four times.
Volleyball	Shelbey Manthorpe	Seton Hall	BIG EAST Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year; American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America Honorable Mention; Unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team; Only player in school history with 4,000 assists and 1,400 digs; Seton Hall’s Co-Senior Student-Athlete of the Year.

 
*repeat selection
#Connecticut competes in the BIG EAST in Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse.
&Cincinnati competes in the BIG EAST in Women’s Lacrosse.