20 student-athletes honored for having the highest cumulative GPA on their team, highlighted by two three-time honorees among the nine repeat medalists
EASTON, Mass. (April 9, 2021) - Stonehill College has announced its St. Thomas Aquinas, Patron Saint of Students, medal recipients for the 2020-21 academic year for having the highest cumulative grade point average on their respective teams, while having completed at least three semesters, in conjunction with National Student-Athlete Week.
St. Thomas Aquinas medals are presented annually to honor student-athletes from Stonehill's 22 varsity programs who have the highest cumulative grade point average on their respective teams through the fall 2020 semester. Of the 20 medal recipients this year, nine are repeat honorees, including seniors Julia Perrone from the softball program, and men's soccer senior Michael McShane, who are three-time medalists. There are 11 Stonehill student-athletes receiving the recognition for the first time.
Earning St. Thomas Aquinas medals for the second time are seniors Kathleen Guisti, from women's track & field, and Derek Ivey, from the football program, and juniors Elisha Brinkman, from field hockey, Evan Kennedy, from men's track & field, Hannah Lennon, from equestrian, Nickolas McNamee, from men's cross country, and Camryn Thompson, from women's soccer.
Noteworthy among the honorees this year are two products of Newtown High School in Connecticut, with men's tennis senior Joey Conrod joining Ivey, a CoSIDA Academic All-America® first team selection in football, among the medalists this year.
Sophomore Maggie Timmoney makes Stonehill history as the first member of the women's swimming program to receive the St. Thomas Aquinas Medal in its first season.
Anderle |
Bittinger-Esser |
Brinkman |
Conrod |
Duff |
Giusti |
Glidden |
Ivey |
Kennedy |
Lennon |
McNamee |
McShane |
Ormesher |
Peragine |
Perrone |
Rudden |
Thompson |
Timmoney |
Van Zanen |
Willis |
St. Thomas Aquinas Medal recipients:
Sophia Anderle (Peabody, Massachusetts/Peabody Veterans Memorial), Senior, Women's Cross Country
Sage Bittinger-Esser (Silver Spring, Maryland/Skipjacks Hockey Club), Sophomore, Men's Ice Hockey
Elisha Brinkman (Barendrecht, The Netherlands/Erasniaans Gymnasium), Junior, Field Hockey**
Joey Conrod (Newtown, Connecticut/Newtown), Senior, Men's Tennis
Billy Duff (Garden City, New York/Garden City), Sophomore, Baseball
Kathleen Giusti (Merrimac, Massachusetts/Pentucket Regional), Senior, Women's Track & Field**
Sophie Glidden (Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough), Junior, Women's Basketball
Derek Ivey (Newtown, Connecticut/Newtown), Senior, Football**
Evan Kennedy (South Windsor, Connecticut/East Catholic), Junior, Men's Track & Field**
Hannah Lennon (Plainville, Connecticut/Plainville), Junior, Equestrian**
Nickolas McNamee (Plymouth, Massachusetts/Plymouth North), Junior, Men's Cross Country**
Michael McShane (Needham, Massachusetts/Needham), Senior, Men's Soccer***
Samantha Ormesher (Toronto, Ontario/Loretto Abbey Catholic School), Junior, Women's Tennis
Basia Peragine (Savannah, Georgia/Calvary Day School), Sophomore, Volleyball
Julia Perrone (North Reading, Massachusetts/North Reading), Senior, Softball***
Lydia Rudden (Hopkinton, Massachusetts/Hopkinton), Sophomore, Women's Lacrosse
Camryn Thompson (Lincoln, Rhode Island/Lincoln), Junior, Women's Soccer**
Maggie Timmoney (Norwood, Massachusetts/Bishop Feehan), Sophomore, Women's Swimming
Sloane Van Zanen (Phoenix, Arizona/Arcadia), Junior, Women's Golf
Chris Willis (Carver, Massachusetts/Carver), Senior, Men's Basketball
Number of years honored marked with asterisks
With 23 intercollegiate sports, Stonehill boasts one of the top athletic and academic programs in the country. Stonehill has won the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents' Cup six times, all coming within the last 15 years, after receiving the Cup for the winter sports season in 2019-20 while holding an overall lead in the standings prior to the remainder of the athletic calendar being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March. Stonehill won seven NE10 Championships during the 2019-20 academic year, with six programs earning NCAA Division II Championship bids. The Skyhawks have received the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement each of the first ten years of the program's existence of honoring institutions with an Academic Success Rate (ASR) of 90-percent or better. Stonehill has earned a 92% 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 third in the NE10 and 18th among all NCAA Division II institutions, with seven Skyhawk teams receiving a perfect rating of 100%.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.
St. Thomas Aquinas Medalists
