2007 Spring Top 10 Awards
2007 Spring Top 10 Awards
(June 7, 2007)
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference has honored a group of talented student-athletes as the league’s Spring Top Ten Awards winners.
The Top Ten Awards, selected by the PSAC’s sports information directors, recognize student-athletes who distinguish themselves in the classroom, as well as in the arena of competition. The conference designates Top Ten Award winners after each of the sports seasons: fall, winter and spring.
To be a candidate for the Top Ten Awards, a student-athlete must have achieved a minimum of a 3.25 cumulative grade point average and must be a starter or key reserve with legitimate athletic credentials. Only student-athletes from the spring sports season are eligible for the Spring Top Ten Awards. Those sports are: baseball, softball, women's lacrosse, men's and women's outdoor track & field, men's and women's tennis, and golf.
At the end of the academic year, the league announces the Scholar-Athlete Awards, which recognize student-athletes on all PSAC squads with 3.25 cumulative GPAs or better. Additionally, the PSAC names the top Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of Year, which will be re-named this year as the Pete Nevins Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
Following are biographical sketches of the PSAC’s 2007 Spring Top Ten recipients:
Lisa Baumgartner
Junior, Clarion
Women's Tennis (West Middlesex/Wilmington)... Baumgartner carries a perfect 4.00 GPA in the field of speech pathology and audiology. During the spring season, she carried a 7-4 singles record, including a 6-2 mark at her primary position of No. 2. In doubles play she went 18-4 over the course of the year which included a 9-2 record during the spring. Baumgartner was chosen to receive the Western Region Sportsmanship Award given by the International Tennis Association. Some career highlights include being selected first-team PSAC West in 2005 and helping the 2006 squad win the school's Carlson Cup for best team overall GPA.
Jeff Craig
Senior, Kutztown
Baseball (Wilkes-Barre/Bishop Hoban)... Craig has achieved a 3.60 GPA while studying speech-language pathology. He started 53 games as Kutztown set a new PSAC record with 49 wins against just seven losses this season. He hit .360 with 38 runs, 16 doubles, six home runs and 55 RBI for a Golden Bear squad that won the NCAA regional and advanced to the NCAA College World Series. He finished his career as a two-time All-PSAC East performer and ranks among school leaders in at-bats (575, 5th), hits (211, 3rd), RBI (136, 4th), doubles (48, 2nd), home runs (17, 4th), total bases (318, 3rd) and batting average (.367, 5th) despite playing just three seasons at the school.
Dan Gal
Junior, Bloomsburg
Men's Tennis (York/Red Lion)... Gal is a a business major at Bloomsburg. After a 19-4 record at No. 1 singles, including a 10-0 mark in tournament play, Gal was named the PSAC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Year. In the fall he captured the PSAC singles and doubles titles and finished his spring season by winning eight of his last nine matches. Gal is now a three-time All-PSAC selection, with first-team nods in each of the last two seasons. The 2005 league Rookie of the Year has a career record of 43-29 with the Huskies.
Amber Hackenberg
Junior, Bloomsburg
Women's Outdoor Track & Field (Middleburg/Middleburg)... Hackenberg holds a 3.98 GPA in business administration. The Middleburg native was an NCAA qualifier in the 5,000m for the third straight season. She earned team points at the PSAC Championships with a fourth place in the 3,000m and a sixth in the 5,000m. During the regular season, she held the eighth and fourth best times among conference runners in those two events, respectively. A winner of the 2006 Fall Top Ten Award, Hackenberg was an all-region performer in cross country with an eighth-place showing.
Jennifer Hansen
Sophomore, Slippery Rock
Women's Outdoor Track & Field (Charleston, W. Va./Capital)... Hansen is an exercise science major who has achieved a perfect 4.00 GPA. This season she was the national runner-up in the pole vault after clearing a PSAC record 12-9 1/2 inches. Hansen is a two-time All-American, having placed fourth a year ago, and has won consecutive pole vault titles at the PSAC Championship, including a meet record 12-8 3/4 mark a year ago. She followed up a 2006 campaign in which she was named the league Rookie of the Year by capturing the 2007 Field Athlete of the Year honors for the most recent campaign. In addition, she won the 2007 indoor crown in the event, helping spearhead team titles for both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Erin Richard
Junior, Clarion
Women's Outdoor Track & Field (Erie/McDowell)... Richard carries a 3.81 GPA in the field of elementary education. At this year's NCAA Championships, she was one of three league athletes to earn multiple All-America honors by placing third in the 5,000m and fourth in the 3,000m. The recently named Women's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year owned the league's top times in the 3,000m (9:56.68), 5,000m (16:41.39) and the 10,000m (35:38.90). She won PSAC titles in the 3,000m and 5,000m at this year's championship after winning the 1,500m and 3,000m a year ago. In addition, she was an All-American during the indoor season and an all-region performer in cross country.
Chris Robson
Senior, Lock Haven
Men's Outdoor Track & Field (Lewisbury/Red Land)... Robson, a health and pre-physical therapy major holds a 3.86 GPA. The distance specialist earned All-America honors this past season after finishing eighth at the NCAA Championship. He posted the league's fastest effort for 2007 in the event at the PSAC Championship, winning his second consecutive title with a time of 9:03.28, which also established a new school record. In addition, he played a role in Lock Haven's outdoor and indoor track titles, and helped the cross country team to a league crown with an All-PSAC 16th-place showing.
Jeff Weiss
Sophomore, Slippery Rock
Men's Outdoor Track & Field (Avella/McGuffey)... Weiss has established a 3.46 GPA in health and physical education. He recently won his second All-America Award for outdoor track & field after finishing fourth at the NCAA Championship for the second straight season. He was the Track MVP of the PSAC Championships this season after winning titles in the 5,000m and 10,000m races, sweeping the events for the second year in a row. The 2007 PSAC Track Athlete of the Year also registered a new PSAC outdoor meet record with his time of 14:20.01 in the 5,000m. A cross country standout as well, Weiss ran All-America efforts with third- and 15th-place finishes, respectively, over the 2005 and 2006 campaigns.
Ryan Wyland
Senior, Mansfield
Baseball (Williamsport/Loyalsock)... Wyland had a 4.00 GPA while studying elementary education at Mansfield. The dual threat as a pitcher/outfielder started 37 of Mansfield's 38 contests on his way to being named his sport's PSAC East Athlete of the Year. He batted .331 and led his team in runs (31), hits (47), doubles (12), triples (30 and stolen bases (13 for 13). On the mound he had a 6-2 record with six complete games among his seven starts. He did not allow any home runs and had an ERA of 3.40, 11th among all league pitchers. During his career Wyland was a three-time All-PSAC East selection, twice as a utility player and this season as a pitcher.
Mallory Zelawski
Senior, Indiana (Pa.)
Women's Lacrosse (Clarence, N.Y./Clarence)... Zelawski has maintained a perfect 4.00 GPA in the field of physical education and sport. The second-team All-PSAC selection finished third among her Crimson Hawk teammates with 43 goals, 17 points and 60 points. She set a new school record with 12 points in IUP's win over Millersville, racking up seven goals and five assists. She was a key component to IUP's six league wins this year, which matched the total wins during IUP's first nine years as a program. Her 106 goals and 144 points rank third all-time on the Crimson Hawks career list.