2019 Stonehill St. Thomas Aquinas Medalists: BACK ROW (l-r) Molly McCutcheon (equestrian), Rachel Dunlavy (volleyball), Grace Carter (women's basketball), McKenzie Woerner (field hockey), Nicole Downey (women's tennis), Miranda Ciccarelli (women's soccer), Jennifer Wheaton (women's lacrosse). FRONT ROW (l-r) Jared Brooks (baseball), Michael McShane (men's soccer), Chris Willis (men's basketball), Kyle Paquette (ice hockey), Manu Ravichadrakumar (men's tennis) and Julie Perrone (softball). UNABLE TO ATTEND: Michael Curtin (football), Alex Demeule (men's cross country/track & field), Kathleen Giusti (women's track & field), Jennifer Kornacki (women's golf) and Anna Lastra (women's cross country). (PHOTO BY Denise Archetto/Stonehill Athletics) |
18 student-athletes honored at annual breakfast in conjunction with tomorrow's National Student-Athlete Day
Dr. Margaret E. Pierce receives Outstanding Faculty Member Award
SAAC Chair James Varney presented the Outstanding Faculty Award to Dr. Margy Pierce (PHOTO BY Denise Archetto/Stonehill Athletics) |
EASTON, Mass. (April 5, 2019) - Stonehill College held its annual Academic Excellence Recognition Breakfast at the Sally Blair Ames Sports Complex this morning. The event is the signature event for the College in recognition of tomorrow's National Student-Athlete Day as administrators, faculty and athletic staff presented St. Thomas Aquinas medals as well as its Outstanding Faculty Member Award.
The event honors student-athletes from Stonehill's 21 varsity programs who have the highest cumulative grade point average on their respective teams through the fall 2018 semester. Those students are presented with St. Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Students, Medals. Of the 18 medal recipients, just six are repeat honorees, showing a nice turnover in recipients from previous years, including senior All-American Alex Demeule from the men's cross country and track & field program as the only three-time recipient today.
Senior Kyle Paquette, from the ice hockey program, and juniors Grace Carter, from the women's basketball program, Rachel Dunlavy, of the volleyball team, Jennifer Kornacki, from women's golf, and Jennifer Wheaton, from the women's lacrosse program, all received medals for the second time this morning.
Demeule is among three honorees today who matriculated to Stonehill via Pentucket Regional High School in West Newbury, Massachusetts, along with women's tennis senior Nicole Downey and women's track and field sophomore Kathleen Giusti.
In addition, Stonehill Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Chair James Varney, a member of the ice hockey program, presented the athletic department's Outstanding Faculty Member Award to Dr. Margaret "Margy" E. Pierce, Associate Professor of Education at the College. Dr. Pierce has taught at the College since 2011, is currently the Education Studies Department Chair, leads the athletic department's Team Faculty Liaison (TFL) program and serves as TFL for the Skyhawks softball team.
Earning St. Thomas Aquinas Medals were:
Jared Brooks (Hollis Center, Maine/Cheverus), Sophomore, Baseball
Grace Carter (Arlington, Mass./Arlington), Junior, Women's Basketball**
Miranda Ciccarelli (Littleton, Colo./Heritage), Sophomore, Women's Soccer
Michael Curtin (Sterling, Mass./Nashoba Regional), Junior, Football
Alex Demeule (Merrimac, Mass./Pentucket Regional), Senior, Men's Cross Country/Track & Field***
Nicole Downey (Groveland, Mass./Pentucket Regional), Senior, Women's Tennis
Rachel Dunlavy (Brighton, Mich./Father Gabriel Richard) Junior, Volleyball**
Kathleen Giusti (Merrimac, Mass./Pentucket Regional), Sophomore, Women's Track & Field
Jennifer Kornacki (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury), Junior, Women's Golf**
Anna Lastra (Bridgton, Maine/Fryeburg Academy), Junior, Women's Cross Country
Molly McCutcheon (Florence, Mass./Northampton), Sophomore, Equestrian
Michael McShane (Needham, Mass./Needham), Sophomore, Men's Soccer
Kyle Paquette (Tewksbury, Mass./Tewksbury), Senior, Ice Hockey**
Julia Perrone (North Reading, Mass./North Reading), Sophomore, Softball
Manu Ravichandrakumar (Chennai, India/Saddlebrook Prep (Fla.)), Junior, Men's Tennis
Jennifer Wheaton (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) Junior, Women's Lacrosse**
Chris Willis (Carver, Mass./Carver), Sophomore, Men's Basketball
McKenzie Woerner (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), Sophomore, Field Hockey
Number of years honored marked with asterisks
With 21 intercollegiate sports, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. In addition to finishing in the top three of the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents' Cup standings for overall athletic performance 14 straight years, the Skyhawks have received the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement each of the first eighth years of the program's existence of honoring institutions with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90-percent or better. Stonehill has earned a 96% 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 seventh among all NCAA Division II institutions, with eight Skyhawk teams receiving a perfect rating of 100%. In addition, the Skyhawks are ranked 11th in the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) Power Rankings for Division II used to assess the academic and athletic standards of all NCAA and NAIA athletic programs.
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