INDIANAPOLIS – Twelve student-athletes representing six Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) institutions have been named as 2013-14 GLVC Winter & Spring Scholar-Athletes of the Year, it was announced by the conference office on Thursday. Recipients were honored for their efforts both in the classroom and competition in the sports of men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field, baseball and softball.
Drury University paced all conference schools with four honorees, including
Nick Thimesch (baseball),
Bethanie Funderburk (women’s basketball),
Nick McCarthy (men’s swimming and diving), and
Sarah Pullen (women’s swimming and diving). Lewis University was represented by three award winners in
Armand Levandi (men’s tennis
), Zsofia Kranczicki (women’s tennis), and
Robert Dofflemyer III (men’s golf). Missouri S&T followed with two recipients in
Bryce Foster (men’s basketball) and
Adriel Hawkins (men’s track and field). The remaining three sports were headlined by University of Indianapolis’
Jenny Konop (women’s golf), Missouri-St. Louis’
Ashleigh King (softball), and University of Wisconsin-Parkside’s
Jessica Watychowicz (women’s track and field).
The league selects one student-athlete in each conference sport to be designated the GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The award is based upon athletic accomplishments, both team and individual, and academic performance in the season upon which the award is based. Each conference member has the opportunity to nominate one individual from its team for the award. Nominees must have a cumulative grade point average which meets Academic All-America standards (3.30), and freshmen and first-year transfers are not eligible for the award. The voting is completed by each member institution’s Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR).
Men’s Basketball: Foster is the first Miner to garner GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the sport of men’s basketball after becoming just the fourth S&T student-athlete to be selected as the Capital One Academic All-America of the Year for NCAA Division II as well as a first-team Academic All-America honoree. On the court, the unanimous All-Conference selection was picked this past season to the second team on the National Association of Basketball Coaches' all-region squad and to the Daktronics, Inc., All-Midwest region second team. Foster finished the season with a scoring average of 21.6 points per game to place second in the league's scoring race and 17th nationally. The Florissant, Mo., native registered a perfect 4.0 GPA in his final semester to improve his cumulative mark to 3.90 in his business and management systems major. He completed his Miner career third on the all-time scoring list with 1,683 points and his 584 points scored during the 2013-14 season tied the fourth-most of any player in one season in S&T history.
Women’s Basketball: Funderburk is the third Panther women’s basketball player to earn GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, joining Ja’Nell Jones in 2011 and Drury’s now-interim head coach Molly (Carter) Miller in 2008. A native of Nixa, Mo., Funderburk netted a perfect 4.0 GPA for the spring and brought her cumulative GPA to 3.92 in the field of exercise and sports science with minors in psychology and global studies. On the hardwood, the second-team All-GLVC selection led the Panthers to the NCAA Elite Eight following a Midwest Regional Championship, which was won on top-seeded Drury’s home court. She started all 31 games this year and scored 13.3 points per game to help Drury to a 27-4 mark overall.
Men’s Swimming and Diving: McCarthy is the first-ever Scholar-Athlete of the Year award honoree in the sport as the GLVC concluded its inaugural season in the pool with the Panthers earning the NCAA Championship. McCarthy played a huge role in the team performance as he walked away with the national title with a school-record time of 19.75 in the 50 Freestyle. The Little Rock, Ark., native tacked on two other first-place finishes in the 200- and 400 Freestyle and was an individual runner-up in the 100 Freestyle in 43.54. McCarthy finished the semester with a 3.92 GPA and has now brought his overall mark to 3.50 in advertising/public relations.
Women’s Swimming and Diving: Pullen also nets the first-ever Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor in both Drury and GLVC swimming history. The Brisbane, Australia, native charted a 3.94 semester GPA this past spring to improve upon a 3.84 GPA overall in exercise and sports science studies. She was on the winning 400 Medley (3:39.29) and 800 Freestyle Relay (7:20.08) squads that both touched the wall in national-record times at the NCAA Championships. She also helped set a new Division II record time in the 200 Medley Relay (1:40.45). At the inaugural GLVC Championships, Pullen took gold in the 500 Free, 1000 Free and 1650 Free events.
Men’s Tennis: Levandi becomes the first Flyer in program history to garner Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in men’s tennis. The GLVC Player of the Year owned a 3.62 GPA in business administration while finishing the 2013-14 campaign with a record of 26-2 in singles play and a combined 16-7 in doubles action en route to ITA All-America status. The Estonian native won the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Singles Championship and finished fourth overall at the USTA/ITA National Small College Singles Championship en route to his No. 10 national ranking in singles play.
Women’s Tennis: Kranczicki is the third Lewis women’s tennis standout to earn Scholar-Athlete of the Year after Zsofia Lanstiak garnered back-to-back honors the past two seasons. The Eger, Hungary, native, who was tabbed as GLVC Player of the Year in April, finished her career with a combined 219 victories (113 singles; 106 doubles) after a 29-4 mark in singles action and 30-4 mark in doubles play in 2014. She was named ITA Senior Women's Tennis Player of the Year for the Midwest after helping the Flyers to a GLVC East Division crown and a runner-up finish at the conference championships. The Capital One Academic All-District 4 At-Large Team selection had a 3.95 GPA this past spring to boost her cumulative mark to 3.49 in international business.
Men’s Golf: Dofflemyer’s honor makes it back-to-back seasons for a Lewis Flyer men’s golfer to earn GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. After Brandon White garnered the accolade last year, Dofflemyer put forth an impressive effort on and off the links this season. Following an unblemished semester GPA of 4.0, the air traffic control management major improved his cumulative total to 3.89 through his first two seasons. The sophomore registered a team-best 75.2 scoring average and helped his team to a fourth-place finish at the GLVC Championships after finishing tied for fourth overall in the individual race at 215 (74-70-71). The All-GLVC honoree, who hails from Belvidere, Ill., went on to pace the Flyers at the NCAA Regional by placing tied for 25th overall at 226 (75-72-79). On campus, Dofflemyer was also recognized for his academic achievements, having earned the school’s Br. David Delahanty Award, which is given to Lewis student-athletes for academic excellence.
Women’s Golf: Konop closes out her career at UIndy as not only the Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award winner as the GLVC Female Athlete of the Year, but also as a back-to-back Scholar-Athlete of the Year honoree. In addition, Konop earned her second consecutive GLVC Player of the Year award after helping the Greyhounds to both their third straight GLVC Championship and NCAA Division II Super Regional 1 titles, and a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. She averaged a career-best 77.4 strokes in 27 rounds played this past season, netting a stellar .873 winning percentage. She finished in the top eight in 10 of 13 events this year, including winning three individual medals. The Green Bay, Wis., native turned in a 3.74 GPA this past spring and graduated with a 3.95 GPA as a biology major with minors in chemistry and Spanish. Those efforts in the classroom helped her to a second straight selection to the Capital One Academic All-America® At-Large first team. She is the eighth Greyhound golfer to earn Scholar-Athlete of the Year and joins Lyndsay McBride (2009-2010) and Courtney Tate (2000-2001) as the only repeat winners in program history.
Men’s Track and Field: Hawkins becomes just the third Missouri S&T track standout to earn GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the first since Jordan Henry earned back-to-back honors in 2008 and 2009. The Jefferson City, Mo., native was an All-America performer in the 200 meters during the indoor season and a three-time GLVC Champion in 2014. Hawkins was named GLVC Track Athlete of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons after a year in which he set three school records and earned All-America honors in the indoor 200 meters, where he finished sixth at the NCAA meet in March and broke the school record in the preliminaries with a time of 21.49 seconds. He also qualified for the national meet in the indoor 60-meter dash and outdoor 200 meters, where he broke school records as well including a time of 21 seconds flat in the 200. He won both 200-meter events at the GLVC Championships this year and also captured the title in the outdoor triple jump. The engineering management major with a 3.49 GPA was lauded as a Capital One Academic All-District honoree as well.
Women’s Track and Field: Watychowicz is the third Ranger in the last four years to walk away with Scholar-Athlete of the Year distinction within the sport. Heidi Ertl was honored with the award in 2011 and Hope Christie garnered the attention in 2012. Last month, Watychowicz closed out her impressive career at UW-Parkside with a runner-up finish in the 10,000 meters and a 19th-place result in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Burbank, Ill., native, who finished with a 3.64 cumulative average while earning her MBA, was also the GLVC Champion in the 10,000 meters – a race in which she set a new conference record time of 35 minutes, 22.26 seconds.
Softball: King, the lone senior on the GLVC Champions squad, concluded her career as a Triton with a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA in elementary education. She is the first-ever UMSL softball player to be named GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a honor which comes nearly a month after she become the 10th UMSL student-athlete to garner CoSIDA Academic All-America® honors as she was named to the sport’s third team. The St. Louis, Mo., native started all 57 games in centerfield, posting a batting average of .290 with 54 hits, including 10 doubles, 22 RBIs and 37 runs scored. A two-time second-team All-GLVC honoree, King helped the No. 6 nationally-ranked Tritons to a program-best 49-8 record and a spot in the NCAA Midwest Super Regional.
Baseball: Thimesch is the first Drury standout to ever earn GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, GLVC Player of the Year, and first-team All-America honors. This past May, he was just the second Panther to ever be recognized as the conference's top male student-athlete as the Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award winner, joining Jaime Villa Zapatero following the 2010-11 season. Thimesch helped his Panthers to their second GLVC Championship while setting new DU single-season records with his .464 batting average, 104 hits and 33 stolen bases. The Marshalltown, Iowa, native had hits in 36 of his last 37 games, including a 22-game hitting streak that ranked as the second-longest in the program's eight-year history. In the classroom, he graduated with a 3.73 cumulative GPA in biology and chemistry with a minor in global studies.