Creighton’s Sven Koenig Named BIG EAST Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year
The BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year will be awarded a $4,000 scholarship, which can be applied to postgraduate studies.
NEW YORK – For the third consecutive year, the BIG EAST Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Presented by Sunkist, came from one of the league’s soccer programs. This year’s award went to BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year Sven Koenig from Creighton. Koenig will receive a $4,000 scholarship, which may be applied to graduate or professional studies. He is the first male honoree from Creighton. The selection was made by the Conference’s Academic Affairs Committee and was announced by the Conference on Wednesday.
The Conference also announced the male winners of the 2018-19 BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete Scholarships, Presented by Sunkist. Each institutional winner receives $2,000 toward graduate studies.
Two of the men’s institutional winners were from men’s soccer teams. In the last three years, 10 men’s soccer players have been honored.
Koenig scored a league-best 10 goals, including three game-winners last season. The Westhofen, Germany, native averaged 2.11 shots on goal per match, which ranked fifth nationally. Koenig recorded two multi-goal matches and had at least one goal in four of six contests during the month of September. In December, Koenig was honored with a spot on the United Soccer Coaches All-East Region First Team.
Koenig earned CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-America First Team honors as he claimed a 4.0 GPA while studying finance at Creighton. He was one of 16 members of the Google Cloud Academic All-America Division I men’s soccer teams to boast a perfect 4.0 GPA. His postgraduate plans include pursuing a Master’s degree in Business Administration. He has been a consistent member of the dean’s list and has earned Creighton’s Academic Excellence Award for the past three semesters. Koenig transferred to Creighton from Hawai’i Pacific University.
Twenty student-athletes (one male and one female from each of the BIG EAST’s 10 member institutions will be named as BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete award winners. The BIG EAST Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year was also announced. This year, the award went to Creighton volleyball star Taryn Kloth. It is the fifth time the award has come from the same school. The last time was in 2016 when St. John's student-athletes Thomas Hackimer, baseball and Rachel Daly, women's soccer won.
2018-19 BIG EAST Institutional Male Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Sunkist
| School |
Name, Sport(s) |
| Butler |
Mason Dragos, Tennis |
| Creighton |
Sven Koenig, Soccer |
| DePaul |
Kyle Decker, Track & Field |
| Georgetown |
Daniel Bucaro, Lacrosse |
| Marquette |
Ryan Burd, Cross Country |
| Providence |
Tate Boyce, Lacrosse |
| St. John’s |
Alan Nunez Aguilera, Tennis |
| Seton Hall |
David Arvidsson, Soccer |
| Villanova |
Casey Comber, Cross Country |
| Xavier |
Chris Givin, Baseball |
BIG EAST Male Scholar-Athletes Of The Year Presented by Sunkist
| Year |
Name, School, Sport |
| 1985 |
Joey David, Pittsburgh, Basketball |
| 1986 |
John Prior, Connecticut, Track & Field |
| 1987 |
Harold Jensen, Villanova, Basketball |
| 1988 |
Dave Echeverria, Villanova, Swimming & Diving |
| 1989 |
Chris Craft, Villanova, Swimming & Diving |
| 1990 |
Pat O’Kelly, Seton Hall, Soccer |
| 1991 |
David Honor, St. John’s, Baseball |
| 1992 |
Steve Holman, Georgetown, Track & Field |
| 1993 |
Hector Zamora, Seton Hall, Soccer |
| 1994 |
Sebastien Goulet, Swimming, Syracuse |
| 1995 |
Kevin Lyles, Seton Hall, Track & Field |
| 1996 |
Gil Kovalski, Miami, Tennis |
| 1997 |
Christian Fogarazzo, St. John’s, Track & Field |
| 1998 |
Errol Williams, Notre Dame, Track & Field |
| 1999 |
Angelo Ciminiello, Providence, Baseball |
| 2000 |
Scott VanEpps, Pittsburgh, Swimming & Diving |
| 2001 |
Chris Hamblin, Boston College, Soccer |
| 2002 |
Gregory Strohmann, Seton Hall, Soccer |
| 2003 |
Casey Schmidt, Boston College, Soccer |
| 2004 |
Chris Wingert, St. John’s, Soccer |
| 2005 |
Guy Melamed, Boston College, Soccer |
| 2006 |
Trevor O’Grady, Rutgers, Track & Field |
| 2007 |
Drew Eckman, Villanova, Track & Field |
| 2008 |
Jeremy Stultz, Pittsburgh, Swimming & Diving |
| 2009 |
Zak Boggs, USF, Soccer |
| 2010 |
Francisco Aristeguieta, USF, Soccer |
| 2011 |
Brian Karalunas, Villanova, Lacrosse |
| 2012 |
Eric Finan, Cincinnati, Cross Country/Track & Field |
| 2013 |
Grant Van De Casteele, Notre Dame, Soccer |
| 2014 |
Charles Lyon, Marquette, Soccer |
| 2015 |
Sam McEntee, Villanova, Cross Country/Track & Field |
| 2016 |
Thomas Hackimer, St. John’s, Baseball |
| 2017 |
David Goldsmith, Butler, Soccer |
| 2018 |
Eric Dick, Butler, Soccer |
| 2019 |
Sven Koenig, Creighton, Soccer |