FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 5, 2015

MANSFIELD, Mass. - The Northeast-10 Conference has announced its Academic All-Conference teams and the league's Sport Excellence Award winners for the 2014-15 fall athletic season.

For a complete list of the Academic All-Conference selections, which are chosen by a committee vote of Faculty Athletic Representatives (FARs) and other athletic administrators, please see below.

The league also announced it's seven recipients of the Fall Sport Excellence Awards. Each sport has one winner and to be eligible, a student-athlete must have completed at least two consecutive semesters of enrollment at their current institution, two total years of athletic eligibility, and maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of a 3.30.

The recipients of the Sport Excellence awards included a two-time winner in the sport of men's cross country (Bryan Wilcox of Stonehill), a league MVP (Steven Laurino of LIU Post), and an NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year (Katy Daniels of Saint Rose).

The 88 student-athletes were recognized for their outstanding achievements in the classroom and on the playing field in the sports of men's and women's cross country, field hockey, football, men's and women's soccer, and volleyball.

Each of the league's 15 members had at least one student-athlete selected. Stonehill led all schools with 13 student-athletes recognized, while Adelphi had nine. Bentley had eight, and Saint Michael's, Saint Rose, and Southern New Hampshire each had seven apiece.

LIU Post, which is an associate member in the sports of field hockey and football, also had six student-athletes selected 

To be eligible for selection to the Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference Teams, a student-athlete must have met or exceeded the following minimum requirements: 1) participated in at least half of the team's competitions and been either a starter or significant contributor; 2) achieved a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale); and 3) completed at least one academic year at his/her current institution.

Stonehill's Bryan Wilcox, a senior, majoring in accounting currently has a 3.71 grade point average. He earned both All-Region and All-Conference honors this fall by finishing 8th and 5th, at the two cross country events, respectively.

Wilcox is a 2014 Capital One Academic All-American, and as been named All-Region twice, and All Conference three times. He has been named to Stonehill's athletic department Honor Roll five times, and was the recipient of an NCAA Divsion II ADA Academic Achievement Award (2012).

Southern New Hampshire's Stacey Wojcik is the Sport Excellence recipient in women's cross country. A 3.944 student majoring in business administration, Wojcik is a two-time USTFCCCA All-Region performer (2013, 2014). She finished 15th at the 2014 NCAA East Regional to qualify to compete at the NCAA Championship in December, becoming just the second women's cross country student-athlete from So. New Hampshire to compete at nationals.

Stacey was named the 2013-14 So. New Hampshire Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and finished in the top 20 of each of the school's first eight races, including a sixth-place finish at the Bruce Kirsh Cup. 

Assumption's Abigail Heroth earns the award in the sport of field hockey. Heroth, a senior majoring in biotechnology and molecular biology, has a 3.94 GPA. She started all 19 games, finishing with a team-high three defensive saves to go along with four shots. 

She becomes a three-time Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference selection and she was awarded the Fall 2013, Spring 2014 and Fall 2014 Assumption College Premier Student-Athlete Award for a perfect 4.0 GPA. She is also a four-time recipient of the Assumption College Student-Athlete Director's Citation for a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

LIU Post's Steven Laurino led the Pioneer to the 2014 Northeast-10 Conference Championship, and was awarded MVP of the season by the league's head coaches.  Majoring in history education major, the Harlin Hill finalist has a 3.71 GPA and accounted for 48 touchdowns during the season.  He threw for 3,565 yards and rushed for another 609 on the ground.

Laurino was named to the Daktronics All-Super Region One Team and was named NE-10  player of the week five times during the season. He set single-season program records for completions and total offense, and threw for the second-most yards in a single season by a Pioneer quarterback.

Le Moyne's Keleenna Onyeaka earned Sport Excellence honors in the sport of men's soccer. A senior, majoring in economics with a 3.812 GPA, Onyeaka was the leader of a Dolphins' defensive unit that allowed just 0.83 goals per game (the second-best mark in the Northeast-10 and the third-best in the East Region) and recorded nine shutouts (the third-most in the conference and the East Region).

He was named a 2014 NSCAA Scholar All-East Region Third Team selection and an was named to the NSCAA East Region Second Team. He was named a First Team All Conference selection during each of the least two seasons. 

Off the field, Carmelina was an NSCAA first-team All-America, and an NSCAA Scholar All-America, as well as a Daktronics All-America. She was also named to the Capital One Academic All-America second-team.

Puopolo's classmate, Katy Daniels, earns the award in the sport of women's volleyball.  The senior libero is majoring in business administration and has a 3.86 gpa overall. Daniels was named the NE-10 Libero of the Year, and was a Northeast-10 Conference First-Team selection. She was recognized as an AVCA All-Region Honoree, as well as named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team. For the year, she averaged 5.75 digs per set, 0.39 assists per set, and 0.26 aces per set; her 5.75 digs average was 16th-best in the country.

Fall 2014 Academic All-Conference Selections

- Student-athletes that were the Sport Excellence Award winners are in bold italics -

Men’s Cross Country (6)
Michael Biwott, American International
John Chirchir, American International
Nik Haas, Bentley
Michael Bisbee, Southern New Hampshire
Trent Fontanella, Stonehill*
Bryan Wilcox, Stonehill*%

Field Hockey (15)
Molly Cuevas, Adelphi*
Briana Rubenstein, Adelphi*
Abigail Heroth, Assumption^
Lauren Neilan, Assumption
Gina Lirange, Bentley^
Keliann Margiotta, LIU Post
Katie Bishop, Merrimack
Samantha Burns, Saint Michael’s
Jackie Chisholm, Saint Michael’s
Megan Deschaine, Saint Michael’s
Kelsie Miller, Saint Michael’s*
Cassandra Nickerson, Southern New Hampshire
Emily Sideris, Stonehill
Elizabeth Thornton, Stonehill
Maggie Travers, Stonehill 

Football (12)
Daniel Backx, American International^
Bryan Hardy, Bentley
Paul Norris, Bentley
Dan Belfiore, LIU Post
Sean Binckes, LIU Post
Steven Laurino, LIU Post
Chris Rossi, LIU Post
Mike Williams, LIU Post
Anthony Greenfield, New Haven*
Jack Mallis, Southern Connecticut
Colin Smith, Stonehill
Anthony Masucci, Stonehill 

Men's Soccer (15)
Juan Aguiar, Adelphi
Jordan Hibbert, Adelphi*
Ed Sharman, American International
Kieran Hilery, Assumption
Scott Levy, Bentley*
Alexander Lautner, Le Moyne
Keleenna Onyeaka, Le Moyne
Julio Leon Garcia, Merrimack
Tyler Pomakoy, Saint Rose
Sebastian Brems, Southern Connecticut
Markus Jacobsen, Southern Connecticut
Keegan Campbell, Southern New Hampshire*
Miguel Carneiro, Southern New Hampshire
Jonathan Lupinelli, Southern New Hampshire*
Sebastian Stezewski, Southern New Hampshire 

Women's Soccer (20)
Michelle Brown, Adelphi*
Taylor Groth, Adelphi*
Melissa Rubin, Adelphi*
Taylor Salmon, Adelphi
Romina Bell, American International
Kaycee Pereira, Franklin Pierce
Gabriela Vieira, Franklin Pierce*
Kelly Ristoff, Le Moyne
Sarah Coakley, Merrimack
Megan Gada, Merrimack
Jenna Savi, Merrimack*
Alyssa Zeoli, Pace
Cassie Quattropani, Saint Anselm
Carmelina Puopolo, Saint Rose*
Michaela Philips, Saint Rose
Jourdan Thompson, Saint Rose*
La'Quilla Upton, Saint Rose
Sarah Brochu, Southern Connecticut
Hannah Fay, Stonehill 
Claire O'Brien, Stonehill 

Volleyball (11)
Kaitlyn DeStefano, Adelphi
Jaci Buscher, Bentley*
Alex Tator, Bentley
Aiden Garcia, Franklin Pierce
Catie Swiderski, Franklin Pierce
Stephanie Sheehan, Merrimack
Kristen Lee, New Haven
Katy Daniels, Saint Rose*
Maryellen Devic, Saint Rose
Emily Iverson, Stonehill*
Delia Phillips, Stonehill 

*recognizes two-time academic all-conference selections
^recognizes three-time academic all-conference selections
% recognizes two time sport excellence award winners 

The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 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 6,000 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 in terms of sports sponsorship. 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.

– #NE10 –