NEW YORK – Creighton tennis standout Harrison Lang and Villanova track & field leader Caroline Hamilton have been chosen as the winners of the 2016-17 BIG EAST Michael Tranghese Postgraduate Leadership Award, as selected by the BIG EAST Conference Academic Affairs Committee.
The awards are given to one male and one female student-athlete from a BIG EAST-sponsored sport who have been admitted to a degree-granting or professional program for the following academic year and who have demonstrated leadership through excellence in academic credentials, athletic performance and depth of commitment to service within the institution or the community.
Lang and Hamilton will each receive a $5,000 scholarship, which may be applied to postgraduate study. The award is named for Michael Tranghese, the BIG EAST’s first full-time employee who served as commissioner of the conference from 1990 to 2009 and embodied leadership and dedication from the league’s inception.
Lang has chosen to attend University of Nebraska Medical Center, while Hamilton will attend DeSales University to pursue a Master’s degree in Physician Assistant studies.
Lang, Creighton’s team captain, is a four-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar-Athlete (2014-2017). He was voted the men’s tennis MVP in 2016 and Most Improved in 2015. In 2017, Lang won the Reinert Award for Creighton Male Student-Athlete of the Year. On the court, he went 11-8 at singles playing in one of the top two spots. An All-BIG EAST player, Lang competed at the top doubles spot and went 10-9. He combined for 97 career victories, 55 at singles and 42 at doubles. A neuroscience major and biology minor, Lang is a three-time All-BIG EAST Academic Team and ITA All-Academic Team honoree (2014-2016). Lang boasts a 4.00 GPA. Lang earned CoSIDA Academic All-District VII At-Large First Team accolades in both 2016 and 2017.
Hamilton concluded her stellar collegiate career by winning the BIG EAST title in the javelin for the second straight year. She threw for a distance of 44.51 meters at the conference championships earlier this month to record the second-best mark of her career, and successfully defended her title from a year earlier. During her senior campaign, Hamilton established a new personal best with a throw of 44.59 meters at the Penn Relays. She finishes her collegiate career as a four-time All-BIG EAST performer and is ranked fifth on the all-time Villanova performance list in the javelin. Outside of competition, Hamilton consistently achieved at a high level in the classroom. She graduated this spring with a major in Psychology and will be a four-time selection to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team. Hamitlon boasts a 3.97 GPA in her major with a minor in Peace and Justice.
The Michael Tranghese Postgraduate Leadership award is one of a number of scholarships presented by the BIG EAST Conference during the 2016-17 academic year. In addition to this award, which was introduced for the 2010-11 academic year, 20 student-athletes (one male and one female from each of the BIG EAST’s 10 member institutions) have been named as the winners of the BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete Scholarships. The conference also names male and female BIG EAST Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
Michael Tranghese Postgraduate Leadership Award
2011
Tyler Davis, Notre Dame, Tennis
Amy Zhang, Rutgers, Tennis
2012
Benjamin Forrest, Rutgers, Cross Country/Track & Field
Allison Schroeder, Notre Dame, Cross Country/Track & Field
2013
Michael Moore, Notre Dame, Tennis
Kaci Madden, Rutgers , Softball
2014
James Roebker, Xavier, Tennis
Chloe Sher, Seton Hall, Tennis
2015
Shawn Heide, St. John’s, Baseball
Shelby Manthorpe, Seton Hall, Volleyball
2016
Zachary Mueck, Xavier, Men’s Tennis
Emily Cubbage, St. John’s, Women’s Soccer
2017
Harrison Lang, Creighton, Men’s Tennis
Caroline Hamilton, Villanova, Track & Field