Lock Haven, Pa. - The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is pleased to announce East Stroudsburg’s Matt Tholis and Clarion’s Hannah Heeter as its 2012-13 Pete Nevins Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Tholis and Heeter were selected by the league’s sports information directors.
The Nevins Scholar-Athletes of the Year are presented to the top student-athletes who have achieved at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average while competing at an outstanding athletic level. To be eligible for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, a student-athlete must have been recognized as a fall, winter or spring PSAC Top 10 award winner in the same academic year.
An exercise science major, Tholis becomes the first East Stroudsburg student-athlete to be recognized as the PSAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. While carrying a 3.91 grade-point average, the senior wrapped up a standout career as a javelin thrower for the Warriors track and field team, culminating with his selection as a first-team Capital One Academic All-American. Tholis finished second in his event at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships, netting the highest finish by a PSAC qualifier and setting a new school record with his 232-foot toss. The silver medal finish marked his second All-America citation after a seventh-place effort in 2012. Tholis received every major conference and regional field athlete award for the 2013 season, including the PSAC Men’s Field Athlete of the Year, Field Athlete of the Meet at the PSAC Championships, and the USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year.
Heeter, a biology/pre-med major, boasts a 3.95 GPA while excelling on both the volleyball and basketball courts. Earning a second-team spot in each season, Heeter became Clarion’s first-ever athlete to claim Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in multiple sports. She was named first team all-region by the American Volleyball Coaches Association after a second-team Western Division selection by the PSAC. In basketball she was the only PSAC player to average a double-double with 14.4 points and 13.3 rebounds per contest, spearheading her way to a first-team All-PSAC West and second-team All-Atlantic Region recognition. Ranking third in Division II, she broke a 33-year old school record for rebounding average in a season and also led the PSAC in shooting percentage by hitting on 51.7% of her shots. In winning this year’s award, Heeter becomes the sixth Golden Eagle, and third female to garner the league’s top scholar-athlete title.
The PSAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards are now in their 23rd year of existence. In 2007 the awards were renamed to honor East Stroudsburg’s long-time sports information director, Pete Nevins, who passed away earlier that year. Nevins held his position at ESU for 33 years and it is estimated that he wrote articles on more than 12,000 ESU events that covered more than 5,000 student-athletes.