Ruonavaara |
199 student-athletes recognized for earning 3.20 GPA or better during the Spring 2014 semester
Athletic Director's Honor Roll List
EASTON, Mass. (June 10, 2014) – Stonehill College has announced its Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for the Spring 2014 semester.
A total of 199 student-athletes representing each of Stonehill’s 20 intercollegiate athletic programs were recognized for earning a semester grade point average of 3.20 or better. Five student-athletes posted a perfect 4.0 GPA, four of which were in-season with their respective athletic programs. Sophomore thrower Trisha Pierson (East Hanover, New Jersey/Hanover Park) from the women’s track & field team earned a 4.0 for the second consecutive semester, while teammate Sarah Biggers (Cortlandt Manor, New York/Lakeland), senior captain Catie Kelly (Medfield, Massachusetts/Medfield) from the women’s soccer team, as well as sophomores Megan Ruonavaara (Rocky Hill, Connecticut/Rocky Hill) from the softball team and Rachel Fox (Smithfield, Rhode Island/Smithfield) from the equestrian team also posted perfect GPAs.
Dixon |
Pierson helped Stonehill capture its first Northeast-10 Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship in early May with her first-place finish in the discus throw, while Biggers was a member of NE-10 Championship teams in women’s cross country, as well as indoor and outdoor track & field during her senior year. Ruonavaara earned Capital One Academic All-District I first team and NE-10 All-Conference first team honors after leading Stonehill offensively with a .342 batting average, seven home runs, and 29 RBI this season.
Also highlighting the Honor Roll selections are senior Zack Soulier (Milford, Connecticut/Jonathan Law) from the baseball team, sophomore Emma Zamierowski (Winchester, Massachusetts/Winchester) from the equestrian team, senior and junior All-Americans Xavier Dixon (New Bedford, Massachusetts/New Bedford) and Maria Curit (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) from the men’s and women’s track & field programs, and junior Jared Drzal (West Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) from the men’s tennis team.
Soulier, a senior left-handed pitcher, earned All-East Region second team honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and All-Conference third team accolades from the NE-10 while posting a 3.78 GPA this spring. Soulier went 9-2 with a 2.13 ERA in 2014, and he became Stonehill’s all-time wins leader with his 24th career triumph against Adelphi University in the NE-10 Tournament on May 9th.
Zamierowski earned the fourth national championship in Stonehill equestrian history this past spring, when she won the individual walk-trot equitation blue ribbon at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) National Championships in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in early May. Drzal helped lead the Skyhawks to the fifth seed in the NE-10 Tournament, and he was recognized by the league with All-Conference third team honors for both No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles.
Pierson |
Dixon and Curit capped off the 2013-14 academic calendar for Stonehill in spectacular fashion, as they both registered All-America efforts at the NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Allendale, Michigan on May 22-24. Dixon turned in an eighth place finish in the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 14.35 seconds, while Curit placed seventh in the 800-meter run in 2:10.75.
With 20 intercollegiate sports, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. The Skyhawks have finished in the top three in the final NE-10 Presidents' Cup standings ten straight years, including a second place finish in 2013-14, winning the Cup four times, including a streak of three-straight from 2009-10 through 2011-12. This prestigious award is given to the top performing athletic school in the Northeast-10, across all sports and seasons. Stonehill has received the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement each of the first three years of the program's existence of honoring programs with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90-percent or better. The Skyhawks have earned a 97% Academic Success Ranking (ASR) by the NCAA, which considers the academic success rate of the institution based on the graduation rate of student-athletes, good for fifth among all NCAA Division II institutions, with ten Skyhawk teams receiving a perfect rating of 100%. In addition, the Skyhawks are ranked sixth in the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) Power Rankings used to assess the academic and athletic standards of all NCAA and NAIA athletic programs. Stonehill has also been the host site for the 2016 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships at W.B. Mason Stadium.
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