INDIANAPOLIS – Twelve student-athletes representing eight Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) institutions have been named as 2015-16 GLVC Winter and 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 baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's golf, softball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's track and field.
The University of Indianapolis paced all league schools with four honorees, including Matthew Kaplanis (baseball), Paxton DeHaven (women’s golf), Morgan Foley (softball), and Luke Hubert (men’s tennis). Drury University was the only other school with multiple honorees, including Annie Armstrong (women’s basketball) and Hadeil Ali (women’s tennis). The remaining six recipients all came from a different school. The University of Wisconsin-Parkside’s Andy Mazurczak (men’s basketball), Bellarmine University’s DJ Vogt (men’s golf), University of Southern Indiana’s Johnnie Guy (men’s track and field), Lewis University’s Amber Cook (women’s track and field), Missouri S&T’s Keith Sponsler (men’s swimming and diving) and Truman State University’s Nicole Sisson (women’s swimming and diving) were among the 12 distinguished.
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 GLVC member has the opportunity to nominate one individual from its team for the award. Nominees must have a cumulative grade point average that 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).
Baseball: Kaplanis starred as Indianapolis’ ace on the mound for yet another year, going 10-1 this season in 14 games with as many starts. He becomes a back-to-back honoree and is also the sixth baseball Greyhound to be named Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the third in four years. The Fort Wayne, Indiana, product’s wins were tied for highest in the GLVC while second for games started and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.25), which also was 13th nationally in NCAA Division II. His efforts aided a selection to the All-GLVC East Division First Team, NCBWA and ABCA All-Midwest Region First Team, and D2CCA All-Midwest Region Second Team. In addition, Kaplanis owns a 3.95 cumulative GPA as an accounting major and has earned a spot on the recently announced All-GLVC Academic Team, GLVC Council of Presidents’ Academic Excellence Award list as well as the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV team.
Men's Basketball: Mazurczak becomes just the second UWP Scholar-Athlete in the sport and is the 17th Ranger selected overall, while the first since Hope Christie was the women’s track and field winner in Spring 2012. The 2015-16 GLVC men’s basketball Player of the Year and unanimous All-GLVC first-team honoree, he also played his way to numerous other postseason accolades. The Norridge, Illinois, native was a NABC All-District honoree, D2CCA All-Region player, a NABC All-Star Game participant and a D2Bulletin All-American. On the court, Mazurczak led the Rangers in scoring, free throw percentage, and minutes played while being fifth in the loop with a 2.25 assist/turnover ratio. With a 3.37 cumulative GPA following a 3.75 mark this past semester, the guard studied sport management and earned recognition to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team as well as the just-announced All-GLVC Academic Team.
Women's Basketball: Armstrong is the 16th Scholar-Athlete from Drury and fourth in the sport overall. Not only has the Springfield, Missouri, product excelled in the classroom with a 3.9 cumulative GPA while studying exercise and sport science, but she was a force on the hardwood this season as well, starting all 31 games on the schedule and helping Drury to a berth in the NCAA Tournament. She led the Panthers, the Conference and the nation in free throw percentage (93.9), besting all Division II players. Those stats helped her earn postseason accolades as well, including All-GLVC First Team, D2CCA All-Midwest Region Second Team, and WBCA All-America Honorable Mention. Additionally, she was a Dean’s List honoree every semester and most recently named to the All-GLVC Academic Team and a GLVC Council of Presidents’ Academic Excellence Award winner.
Men’s Golf: Vogt had a stellar sophomore season as a Knight on the course and classroom, accumulating a 3.87 GPA overall after a perfect 4.0 this past semester, studying business administration/healthcare. His flawless mark earned not only the Scholar-Athlete title for men’s golf, but he also was named to the All-GLVC Academic Team and notched a Dean’s List spot, too. He was an All-Conference performer, an All-Midwest Region choice and had a great run in the national championship, finishing 27th overall. The native of Louisville, Kentucky, is the 19th Knight and fourth Bellarmine men’s golfer voted to this peak.
Women’s Golf: DeHaven, member of the 2016 National Runners-Up Indianapolis at the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships, accumulated a 3.62 overall GPA focusing her studies in sports management. She helped the Greyhounds to their fifth consecutive GLVC Championship team title after finish third individually. That, along with a seventh-place finish in the national tournament, helped her garner All-GLVC accolades, All-East Region laurels and WGCA All-America Honorable Mention. The Seymour, Indiana, product took home an All-GLVC Academic Team merit, as announced at the start of the week, and is now the 58th UIndy student-athlete and 10th women’s golfer to be chosen as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Furthermore, she makes it four-straight years for Hound women’s golfers, as Chanice Young (2015) and Jenny Konop (2013 & 2014) were recipients the last three years.
Softball: Foley played in 45 games with 38 starts, using every moment of her time in the circle to accumulate accolade after accolade as the announcements rolled in for GLVC Pitcher of the Year, D2CCA Midwest Region Pitcher of the Year, All-GLVC First Team, CoSIDA and NFCA All-Midwest Region First Team, CoSIDA and NFCA All-America First Team, Schutt Sports/NFCA DII National Player of the Year top-3 finalist, and United States Sports Academy's February Female Athlete of the Month. Foley also became the first DII pitcher in NCAA history to strikeout all 21 batters in a seven-inning game and finished second all-time in career strikeouts (1,659) by a DII pitcher. Furthermore, the Louisville, Kentucky, product became the first DII signee to the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Softball league. Not to be overshadowed, her academic merits are impressive standing alone, as she was recently named an All-GLVC Academic Team member and GLVC Council of Presidents’ Academic Excellence Award recipient as well as a CoSIDA Academic All-District first-team selection and All-America second-team member. This is the 59th time a Greyhound has been named a Scholar-Athlete and the third time from a UIndy softball team; Jennifer DeMotte was the Winter/Spring 2012 and 2013 choice.
Men’s Swimming and Diving: Sponsler walks away with his second Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in a row and is the sixth Missouri S&T student-athlete recognized while only the second back-to-back winner, following suit behind Jordan Henry’s 2008 and 2009 Winter/Spring honor for men’s track and field. Sponsler was also this year’s Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award winner, which honors the GLVC’s top male and female student-athlete. He was an All-GLVC First Team honoree, winning five events and breaking four league records at the GLVC Championship meet this past February, while also earning All-America distinction at the NCAA Meet. The Lincoln, Nebraska, native was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American for the third-straight year, gleaning CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-America of the Year also. Additionally, the freestyle specialist was a member of the Miners’ Dean’s List, Kappa Mu Epsilon (mathematics honor society) and S&T Honors Academy, all while maintaining a 3.91 cumulative GPA in Nuclear Engineering. His efforts were recognized, too, on the All-GLVC Academic Team and with a GLVC Council of Presidents’ Academic Excellence Award.
Women’s Swimming and Diving: Truman State earns its second-ever Scholar-Athlete in Sisson, who follows the Fall 2014 winner for volleyball in Ali Patterson. Sisson is only two years into her career as a Bulldog and has held a 3.39 cumulative GPA that was bolstered by a 3.45 mark this past semester while studying communication disorders. Along with this honor, she also was named to the All-GLVC Academic Team at the beginning of the week. The Springfield, Missouri, product swam her way to second-place finishes at the GLVC Championships in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle, which helped Truman to its first league women’s swimming championship title. She followed that up by garnering All-America nods in five events at the NCAA Championship event, including two individual and three as a relay team member.
Men's Tennis: Hubert is the 60th Greyhound Scholar-Athlete but only the second in the sport for UIndy and first in 17 years, as Scott Riggle was chosen in 1999. Hubert finished his career as the seventh-ranked singles player in the region by ITA with a 25-5 record, including 17-2 in dual matches and 5-1 in GLVC play for singles while 22-7 (16-4 dual, 5-1 GLVC) in doubles. He was the Fall ITA Midwest Regional runner-up and surpassed the program’s career singles wins record (80) at the GLVC Championship Tournament in April. In the same weekend, he led his league undefeated (6-0) Hounds to a GLVC championship title before they earned a bye in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and followed with a 5-0 win past Drury in the second round. In the postseason, Hubert was named an All-GLVC performer and garnered the ITA Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sportsmanship and Leadership Award for the Midwest Region. The New Berlin, Wisconsin, product’s statistics are impressive, but his academic resume may be even more so as he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.98 GPA in Biology with a Chemistry minor. In addition, he closed out his final semester with an unblemished 4.0, and was named to the Academic All-GLVC Team, GLVC Council of Presidents’ Academic Excellence Award list and was awarded the Richard E. Schrier Student-Athlete Endowed Scholarship from UIndy to help with postgraduate program expenses.
Women's Tennis: Ali is the first-ever Drury student-athlete to earn Scholar-Athlete in the sport and also the 17th Panther ever selected. She went 18-4 in singles and 19-5 in doubles. Ali was named the ITA Midwest Region women’s senior of the year and helped Drury to a 6-0 league record and GLVC West Division crown as well as an appearance in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for just the second time in program history. Studying international politics, the Berkley, California, native graduated with a 4.0 GPA and earned a spot on the All-GLVC Academic Team and GLVC Council of Presidents’ Academic Excellence Award list earlier in the week.
Men's Track and Field: Guy wins his fourth-straight Scholar-Athlete of the Year laurel that dates back to Fall 2014 when he won the cross country honor. He went on to garner the 2015 Winter/Spring track and field distinction before repeating the same fall cross country merit in 2015 and now his current 2016 Winter/Spring award for track and field. He is the 26th overall Screaming Eagle selected to this prestige, and it’s no wonder how when he’s continually broken records and tallied numerous other accolades throughout four seasons at Southern Indiana. Guy earned three All-GLVC first-team honors in the indoor 3,000-meter and distance medley relay and outdoor 5,000-meter by winning those races at the GLVC Championships this season. Furthermore, he was a four-time All-American (indoor 3000m and 5000m, outdoor 5000m and 10000m) first teamer for yet another year, while a six-time All-Midwest Region runner, including being named the Midwest Region Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. In the classroom, the Palmyra, Indiana, product studied engineering and compiled a 3.65 GPA overall that was bolstered by his 3.75 mark this spring semester. He gleaned Academic All-District and All-America honors, was named an Academic All-GLVC Team member and earned the GLVC Council of Presidents’ Academic Excellence Award this week, too.
Women's Track and Field: Cook is Lewis’ 33rd Scholar-Athlete and third from the sport. She amassed a 3.66 cumulative GPA after a final semester of 3.8 while studying marketing. Her hard work in the classroom produced CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-America distinction as well as Lewis’ Br. David Delahanty Award. In addition, Cook was just named to the All-GLVC Academic Team and honored with the GLVC Council of Presidents’ Academic Excellence Award. Perhaps the most impressive athletic accomplishment for the Grayslake, Illinois, native came this spring at the NCAA Outdoor Meet when she became the national champion in the triple jump. Before the ultimate achievement, she also placed first in the long jump, triple jump and high jump at the GLVC Indoor championships while winning the high jump and triple jump (league record 41’2½”) at the outdoor meet. Those performances also earned her GLVC Field Athlete of the Year for indoor and outdoor. Each of those jumps helped the Flyers win their third-straight GLVC indoor and outdoor titles as well.
2015-16 GLVC WINTER/SPRING SCHOLAR-ATHLETES
Baseball: Matthew Kaplanis, Indianapolis
Men's Basketball: Andy Mazurczak, UW-Parkside
Women's Basketball: Jessica Kelliher, Lewis
Men's Golf: DJ Vogt, Bellarmine
Women's Golf: Paxton DeHaven, Indianapolis
Softball: Morgan Foley, Indianapolis
Men's Swimming & Diving: Keith Sponsler, Missouri S&T
Women's Swimming & Diving: Nikki Sisson, Truman State
Men's Tennis: Luke Hubert, Indianapolis
Women's Tennis: Hadeil Ali, Drury
Men's Track & Field: Johnnie Guy, Southern Indiana
Women's Track & Field: Amber Cook, Lewis