FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 13, 2013
South Easton, Mass. – The Northeast-10 Conference has announced its Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award winners for the 2012 fall season's seven different sports. Bentley University led all schools as there were two Falcons' student-athletes honored among the recipients.
Also receiving recognition was a Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year and a member of a national semifinalist women's soccer team.
For the complete list of scholar-athlete award winners for the 2013 fall season, please see below.
The two student-athletes from Bentley that were recognized for their outstanding work on the field and the classroom are John Drago (men's cross country) and Weston Zeiner (men's soccer).
The University of Massachusetts Lowell's Rachel McCarthy helped lead her team to an appearance in the national championship game, and was also named the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Field Hockey Player of the Year, while The College of Saint Rose's Carmelina Puopolo helped lead the Golden Knights to the National Semifinals once again.
Assumption College's Michael Bates was honored as the sport excellence recipient winner in the sport of football becoming the second consecutive winner in the sport from the program as Nick DiAntonio was honored last year. The junior defensive back has a 3.55 grade point average and is majoring in accounting.
Bates was a second team All-Conference selection and was a member of one of the league's stingiest defensive units. He finished the season with a team high 61 total tackles, which was good for 12th- best in the NE-10. Bates has earned the Fall 2011, Spring 2012, and Fall 2012 Assumption Student-Athlete Director's Citation, and was also named to the Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 Assumption Student-Athlete Honor Rolls.
Drago, a men's cross-country student-athlete, posted a 3.81 GPA majoring in corporate finance and accounting and liberal studies, was Bentley's top finisher at the NCAA Championships, placing 97th overall. The senior was a 2012 Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-America 3rd-team member and was twice named an All-East Region performer. He was also named to the 2012 Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference Team.
Stonehill College's Caroline McBride earned the prestigious recognition for the sport of women's cross country. McBride has a 3.61 GPA with a concentration in American History, and was a member of the Skyhawks' cross country team which won both the NE-10 Championship, as well as the East Regional title, and competed at the NCAA Championships recently.
She earned first team All-East Region and All-Northeast-10 honors in 2012, and was named a Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District I in 2011-12. McBride has been named to the Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll every semester during her time at Stonehill. The senior was also the recipient of the Division II ADA Academic Achievement Award, and was also named to the 2012 Northeast-10 Conference Academic All-Conference Team.
McBride, also blogs for the Northeast-10 Conference, and was recently featured in a '60 Seconds With' feature by the conference office.
McCarthy, a junior majoring in criminal justice with a 3.524 GPA, had a sensational season for the River Hawks. The high-scoring midfielder scored 25 goals and added six assists, while being named the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association North Region Player of the Year, and a First Team All-American. She helped lead UMass Lowell to their sixth-straight appearance in the national title game.
The College of Saint Rose's Carmelina Puopolo, a 3.43 student majoring in childhood education, earned the award in the sport of women's soccer. Puopolo was named the 2012 Daktronics National Player of the Year, as well as a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) first-team Scholar All-American. She was also named to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America Team and an NSCAA first-team Scholar All-East.
In addition to her player of the year honor, Puopolo was named to the NSCAA first-team All-American, Daktronics first-team All-American, and the Daktronics East Region Player of the Year. She was named an NSCAA first-team All-East selection, as she registered 20 goals and 17 assists in helping lead the Golden Knights to the national semifinals. Her 57 points led all of Division II women's soccer student-athletes, while she was second in the country in both goals and assists.
Franklin Pierce University's Natasha Ray earned the sport excellence award from the Northeast-10 Conference in the sport of women's volleyball. Ray is majoring in mass communications at Franklin Pierce and currently has a 3.91 GPA. Ray helped lead the Ravens to an appearance in the 2012 NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball tournament, and was a first team all conference selection. She was also named to the Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll each of the last three semesters, and was selected for the 2012 Academic All-Conference Team.
Drago's classmate at Bentley, Weston Zeiner, was tabbed as the scholar athlete award winner in the sport of men's soccer. The 2012 Northeast-10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year and first team selection, posted a 3.84 GPA and is majoring in accounting. Zeiner was a CoSIDA 1st team Academic All-America and was named to the NSCAA 3rd team All-America squad. Zeiner was also named a NSCAA 1st team Scholar All-America, as well as to the Daktronics 1st team All East Region.
The Northeast-10 Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence awards are chosen by a vote of a committee of athletic administrators and Faculty Athletic Representatives (FAR). The Northeast-10 will honor one student-athlete per conference-sponsored sport each year. There will be a total of 23 Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award winners during the course of the academic year.
The Northeast-10 is an association of 16 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 5,500 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in Conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
2013 Fall Scholar-Athlete Award
Winners
Men's Cross Country – John Drago, Bentley
Women's Cross Country – Caroline McBride,
Stonehill
Football – Michael Bates, Assumption
Field Hockey – Rachel McCarthy, University of
Massachusetts Lowell
Men's Soccer – Weston Zeiner, Bentley
Women's Soccer – Carmelina Puopolo, Saint Rose
Volleyball – Natasha Ray, Franklin Pierce
