PSAC Announces Fall Top 10 Honorees
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. --- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is pleased to announce its Fall 2016 Top 10 Award recipients, chosen and voted on by the league’s sports information directors. The PSAC Top 10 Awards are designed to recognize student-athletes who excel in both the classroom and in athletic competition.
Initiated in the 1997-98 academic year, the Top 10 is given to five males and five females in each athletic season; fall, winter and spring.
The Fall 2016 awards winners are East Stroudsburg’s Devon Ackerman, Mercyhurst’s Thom Derks, Slippery Rock’s Marcus Martin, Seton Hill’s Joe Smith, Bloomsburg’s Josh Smith, IUP’s Natalie Cignetti, East Stroudsburg’s Emily Howell, IUP’s Jenna Lezanic, Shippensburg’s Casey Norton and Bloomsburg’s Sam Peters.
Josh Smith, Ackerman and Howell are repeat winners from last season.
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Devon Ackerman (Hanover, Pa. / South Western), East Stroudsburg
Football - Redshirt Junior
Major: Biochemistry
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
Academic All-America 1st team selection (2nd straight year) … started all 11 games at center … snapped to two QB’s who threw for 1,200+ yards and blocked for R-Sr. TB Robert Healy, who set ESU single-season records for rush yards (1,163) and rush TD (18) in 8.5 games. 2-time Academic All-America 1st team selection (2nd in ESU football history) … 2015 PSAC Fall Top 10 … has started all 33 games over 3 seasons … left guard in 2014 and 2015 before moving to center for 2016. |
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Natalie Cignetti (Indiana, Pa. / Indiana), IUP
Volleyball - Junior
Major: Natural Science/Pre-Med
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
AVCA All-Atlantic Region Team … Second team CCA All-Atlantic Region … First IUP volleyball player since 2006 to earn first team All-Region honors ... First team All-PSAC … 446 kills ranked second in the conference, 3.75 kills per set ranked third … 3.75 kills/set is seventh most in program history … Posted double-digit kill numbers in 25 of her 30 matches, including a streak of 13 straight during the heart of the season … Career-high 28 kills in five-set win over California, one of the highest marks in Division II this season … Also had 24 kills in IUP’s four-set win over Edinboro in the PSAC quarterfinals … Had 20 double-doubles, finishing second on the team with 381 digs and 3.20 digs per set … Had 52 total blocks and 34 service aces. CoSIDA Academic All-District …Second team All-PSAC West in 2015 … PSAC Scholar Athlete … Dean’s List … American Medical Student Association … National Society of Leadership Success.
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Thom Derks (Horst, Netherlands / NHTV University), Mercyhurst
Men's Soccer - Senior
Major: Business and Professional Communication
Cumulative GPA: 3.75 (UG), 3.61 (G)
Derks was named 2016 PSAC Player of the Year, 2016 All-PSAC First Team, D2CCA All-Region First Team, D2CCA All-America Second Team, CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team, CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team. The senior amassed 50 points while the Lakers won the PSAC Men's Soccer Championship. He notched five match-winning goals.
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Emily Howell (Bangor, Pa. / Bangor), East Stroudsburg
Field Hockey - Senior
Major: Health and Physical Education
Cumulative GPA: 3.85
NFHCA All-America 1st team for 2nd straight year … DII Field Hockey selection for Honda Collegiate Woman of the Year Award … PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Year … Synapse Sports DII Defensive Athlete of the Year … helped ESU to 15-3 regular season (9-1 PSAC) and share of 2nd straight PSAC regular season title … helped ESU to 2nd straight NCAA DII Tournament after winning school’s first-ever PSAC and NCAA DII championships as a junior in 2015 … 6 goals, 4 assists as top target on penalty corners … scored game’s only goal in 1-0 (OT) win at Shippensburg in September … led defensive effort that posted 10 shutouts in 20 games, and allowed multiple goals just twice in the final 17 games of the season. |
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Jenna Lezanic (Indiana, Pa. / Indiana), IUP
Women's Cross Country - Senior
Major: Health Services Administration
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
NCAA Elite 90™ for Division II Women’s Cross Country … PSAC Women’s Cross Country Champion Scholar … Earned All-Atlantic Region and All-PSAC … Earned individual trip to 2016 NCAA Championships with fifth place finish at Atlantic Region Championships with a time of 23:07 … Became first IUP women’s cross country runner to compete as an individual at the NCAA Championships since 2003, finishing 113th with a time of 22:27 … Finished 10th at the PSAC Championships ... PSAC Scholar … Dean’s List. |
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Marcus Martin (West Mifflin, Pa. / West Mifflin), Slippery Rock
Football - Redshirt Junior
Major: Safety Management
Cumulative GPA: 3.56
First team CoSIDA Academic All-American … PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year … Super Region One Defensive Player of the Year … named an All-American by every organization that has announced its team so far, including AFCA, AP Little, D2 Conference Commissioner’s Association and HERO Sports … one of the eight national finalists for Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year and the only junior on the final ballot … national finalist for Cliff Harris Award ... broke SRU and PSAC all-time career records for sacks and tackles for loss just three years into his career … finished 2016 with 18.5 tackles for loss, 9.0 sacks, 64 total tackles, 12 QB hurries and one blocked kick … Career SRU and PSAC records now stand at 66.0 tackles for loss and 40.5 sacks. Two-time PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year and also PSAC West Freshman of the Year … has a chance to become the only football player in PSAC history to earn four major end-of-year awards … two-time Super Region One Defensive Player of the Year ... has earned more than 10 All-America honors on the field |
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Casey Norton (Granville Summit, Pa. / Troy Area), Shippensburg
Women's Cross Country - Senior
Major: Health Communication Studies
Cumulative GPA: 3.84
2016 NCAA All-American, 2016 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Atlantic Region Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year, and 2016 PSAC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year…finished 28th at the NCAA Championships as the PSAC’s top female finisher and only All-American…won the 2016 NCAA Atlantic Region Championship by 22 seconds, posting a time of 22:21 to become SU's first four-time All-Region runner since Neely Spence Gracey…won the 2016 PSAC Championship in a photo finish…achieved her first conference and regional titles in her career…twice named PSAC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week…minoring in business ... Four-time USTFCCCA All-Region Cross Country runner who finished as SU’s No. 1 runner in her final 14 collegiate races…USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree…also excels on the track, 5-time PSAC outdoor place-winner, 4-time All-PSAC outdoors who thrives in 1,500 and at 5K.
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Sam Peters (Harrisburg, Pa. / Mifflin County), Bloomsburg
Field Hockey - Senior
Major: Nursing
Cumulative GPA: 3.94
Longstreth/NFHCA Division II First Team All-American … All-PSAC First Team … started all 19 games for the Huskies and led the team in scoring with twelve goals and two assists for 26 points … established career-highs in both goals and points … prior to the postseason, Peters was second in the PSAC in goals and tied for third in the PSAC in points … was also tied for second in the league in game-winning goals with four … scored hat trick in season-opening win at Adelphi (9/2) ... Longstreth/NFHCA Division II First Team All-American (2016) … All-PSAC First Team (2016) … All-PSAC Third Team (2015) … PSAC Champion Scholar-Athlete Award (2015) … NFHCA Scholar of Distinction (2015) … NFHCA Scholar of Distinction (2014) … NFHCA Scholar of Distinction (2013) … appeared in 75 career games and earned 44 starts ... established career-bests in goals (12), points (26), and game-winning goals (4) as a senior in 2016 |
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Joe Smith (Castle Donington, England / Ashby Grammar School), Seton Hill
Men's Soccer - Senior
Major: Accounting
Cumulative GPA: 3.96
2016 CoSIDA Academic All American First Team selection . . . 2016 First team All PSAC selection . . . 2016 D2CCA Second Team All Region Selection . . . 2016 NSCAA Second Team All Region Selection . . . 2016 CoSIDA Academic All District Selection . . . 2015 All PSAC First Team Selection . . . 2015 D2CCA All Region and ECAC DII All Star selection . . . 2015 CoSIDA Academic All District Selection . . . 2014 All PSAC Second Team selection . . . 2014 NSCAA All Region and ECAC DII All Star selection . . . finished career with 9 goals and 18 assists. In 2016, Smith scored four goals and added a team-high six assists and notched a match-winning goal.
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Josh Smith (Mechanicsburg, Pa. / Mechanicsburg), Bloomsburg
Men's Soccer - Senior
Major: Exercise Science
Cumulative GPA: 3.99
Smith appeared in, and started, 17 games for the Huskies – primarily as a defender … had one goal for two points on the season … scored on a penalty kick against Gannon (9/9) … First Team Academic-All American® by CoSIDA … First Team Academic All-District by CoSIDA … recognized at fall graduation ceremonies for having the highest GPA among graduates of the College of Science and Technology ... First Team Academic-All American® by CoSIDA (2016) … First Team Academic All-District by CoSIDA (2016)
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To be a candidate for the PSAC Top 10 Awards, a student-athlete must have achieved a minimum of a 3.50 cumulative grade point average and must be a starter or key reserve with legitimate athletic credentials for their respective team. The fall sports eligible for consideration for the Fall Top 10 Awards are men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s Soccer, and women’s volleyball.
At the conclusion of the academic year, all Top 10 Award winners from each season are eligible for the PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards, given to one male and one female candidate.