2005-06 Winter Top 10 Awards
2005-06 Winter Top 10 Awards
(April 6, 2006)
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference has named a group of outstanding student-athletes as the league’s Winter 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 winter sports season are eligible for the Winter Top Ten Awards. Those sports are: wrestling, men’s and women’s basketball, men's and women's swimming, and men’s and women’s indoor track & field. 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.
Following are biographical sketches of the PSAC’s 2005-06 Winter Top Ten recipients:
Jason Cardillo
Senior, Slippery Rock
Wrestling (Oakdale/South Fayette)... Cardillo has earned a 3.59 GPA in the field of exercise science. He earned a berth in the NCAA Division I Championships after winning his weight class at the East Regional. At 165 pounds, he finished the season with a 34-12 overall record, 13-9 in dual bouts and finished his career with a 102-58 record, good for eighth all-time at Slippery Rock. He was the PSAC Championship runner-up this year and finished fourth in 2004. He posted five technical falls and nine major decisions this season, second best among PSAC competitors in both categories. Cardillo is an NWCA all-academic selection and a four-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete.
Alex Clemsen
Junior, Edinboro
Wrestling (Moberly, Mo./Moberly)...Clemsen carries a 3.63 GPA in the field of business administration/ marketing. At 184 pounds, he finished the season with a 34-10 overall record, 12-0 in dual bouts and won his third PSAC Championship. His second-place showing at the Eastern Wrestling League Championship earned him a trip to the NCAA Championships for the third straight season. He ended
the year ranked 17th in his weight class and went 3-2 at nationals, falling one win shy of All-America status. He was among the top 10 in the PSAC in major decisions with five. For his career thus far, the junior is 84-31, ranking 20th in career wins at Edinboro.
Chris Cummings
Junior, Mansfield
Indoor Track & Field (Mansfield/Mansfield)... Cummings maintains a 3.65 GPA as a physics major. He became the Mountaineers first ever NCAA Division II track and field All-American and tied for the PSAC's top placewinner for 2006 when he finished sixth in the mile at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championship in Boston. He posted the best mile time of any PSAC runner this season with a school record time of 4:09.65 at the Kent St. Tune-Up. At the PSAC Championships, he earned all-league honors by finishing third in the 3k. He also broke the school records for the 800, 3k and 5k during the season. Cummings is a three-time All-PSAC selection and a two-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete.
Lisa Gottuso
Senior, California
Women's Basketball (Ellwood City/Lincoln)... Gottuso has established a 3.92 GPA in the field of business marketing. She finished the season averaging 11.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game to help lead California to a 26-5 overall record and a PSAC tournament title. Gottuso is a two-time All-PSAC selection (first team 2006, second team 2005) and is one of only two players in Vulcans history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 150 steals. She ends her Vulcan career 15th in scoring (1,068), among the top 15 in rebounds (549), seventh in assists (308) and seventh in steals (163). Gottuso was selected as a part of the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II team.
Corey Jacoby
Senior, Shippensburg
Wrestling (Hanover/Delone Catholic)... Jacoby has earned a 3.32 GPA as a criminal justice major. At 197 pounds, the defending NCAA Division II National Champion entered the season ranked No. 1 in the nation and despite battling injuries, he capped his senior campaign with a 31-6 record and a second-straight appearance in the finals of the NCAA Championships. Jacoby finished runner-up and helped Shippensburg to a third-place team finish, the highest-ever postseason finish for the Red Raiders. In addition, he captured the East Region title and finished runner-up at the PSAC Championships. Jacoby was a three-time All-American and concludes his career with 116 victories, third on the school's all-time list.
Laura Kline
Senior, Kutztown
Indoor Track & Field (Reading/Reading)... Kline boasts a 4.00 GPA in the field of special education. She was the 2006 PSAC Indoor Champion in the 400m (57.88) and anchored the second-place 4x400 relay, helping Kutztown to its third straight PSAC indoor team title. She earned the East Region Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year last season and is also the 2004-05 PSAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Kline earned Top Ten honors in the fall for field hockey and led the Golden Bears' to its second straight PSAC playoff appearance.
Tammy Leane
Senior, West Chester
Women's Swimming (Goodwood, South Australia)... Leane holds a 4.00 GPA as a psychology major. One of the top performances in league history, she won four NCAA individual titles at this year's championships. She successfully defended her titles in the 400 IM and 500 free and added wins in the 1,000 free and 200 back. At the PSAC Championships she won individual crowns in the 200 back, and the 200 and 400 IM. She was also part of winning squads in the 400 medley, and the 400 and 800 free relays. In her two seasons at West Chester, Leane won the league's Athlete of the Year twice and was a 12-time All-American.
Sean Strauman
Sophomore, IUP
Indoor Track & Field (South Park/South Park)... Strauman carries a 3.68 GPA while studying accounting. He won the PSAC indoor title in the 800m, matching his own meet record with a time of 1:55.05, and also ran a leg on the third-place team in the distance medley relay (10:14.75). He qualified for nationals in the 800m and followed through as one of five PSAC All-Americans, finishing eighth in 1:53.68. At the Akron Open he set a school and PSAC indoor record in the 800 by posting a time of 1:51.97. Strauman is a three-time PSAC champion in the 800, including the 2005 and 2006 indoor title and the 2005 outdoor crown. In addition, he set stadium records in the event at Mansfield (outdoor) and East Stroudsburg (indoor).
Jamie Wolf
Junior, Clarion
Women's Diving (South Park/South Park)... Wolf boasts a 4.00 GPA while majoring in pre-med/ molecular biology. She is the 2006 NCAA Division II 3m diving champion, taking the title with a score of 494.85 and finishing second on the 1m boards with a score of 414.75. Her efforts this past season led Clarion to a 11th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. This year she won both events against Division I Pittsburgh and won the 1m against primarily Division I competition at the Akron Invitational. Only a junior, she has now set the NCAA Division II record with five NCAA Diving Championships. Wolf was named the NCAA Division II Female Diver of the Year as a freshman and sophomore.
Jen Zuzack
Graduate Student, Slippery Rock
Women's Swimming (Latrobe/Greater Latrobe)... Zuzack maintains a 4.0 GPA as a graduate student in physical therapy. At the PSAC Championships, she had three top-five finishes and earned All-PSAC honors with a third-place finish in the 200 back. She finished fifth in both 50 free (second fastest time in preliminaries) and 100 back and also swam on three relays at the conference meet. As a sophomore, she won the 2004 PSAC championship in 50 free, the first Slippery Rock swimmer to win a title in over 10 years. Zuzack graduated Summa Cum Laude in May of 2005.