PSAC Honors Spring Top 10 Selections
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Lock Haven, Pa. – The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is pleased to announce its Spring 2014 Top 10 Award recipients chosen by the PSAC’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 Award recipients are given to five male and five females in each athletic season: fall, winter and spring. The Spring 2014 award winners are
Dan Altavilla of Mercyhurst,
Tabitha Bemis of Edinboro,
Aaron Dinzeo of California,
Hilary Lyons of Shippensburg,
Zack Kempa of IUP,
Brandon Martinez of Kutztown,
Kate Pratt of Mansfield,
Tanya Timko of IUP,
David Reinhardt of Slippery Rock, and
Natalie Wideman of California.
Bemis, Edinboro’s 46th Top 10 selection, is the first-ever six-time PSAC Top 10 winner, as she appeared on both the winter and spring teams in 2011-12, 2012-13, and 2013-14. Dinzeo is California’s 29th Top 10 honoree and has now earned the honor four times. He was named to all three teams in 2013-14 in addition to the Spring 2014 team. Dinzeo is just the fourth male PSAC student-athlete to be named a PSAC Top 10 honoree four or more times.
Seven of the 10 student-athletes hold a 3.8 or higher grade point average, including all five female selections. Bemis, Lyons, Timko and Wideman all hold a grade point average higher than 3.9, while Dinzeo and Martinez are above the 3.8 threshold.
Altavilla, Martinez, Wideman, and Kempa were each named to their respective Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America First Teams, while Pratt and Lyons were both Second Team selections in softball. The Academic All-America teams for track and field/cross country will be released on June 25.
Shippensburg leads all institutions with 53 Top 10 selections since the program’s inception. Clarion is second with 49, while Edinboro has enjoyed 46. Slippery Rock and East Stroudsburg are tied for fourth with 44 apiece.
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 spring sports that are eligible are baseball, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, lacrosse, softball, men’s and women’s golf, and men’s and women’s tennis.
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 to be released in July.
Listed below are biographies for the Spring 2014 PSAC Top 10 Award winners:
Dan Altavilla, Mercyhurst
Baseball – Junior
Major: Sportsmedicine/Pre-Physical Therapy
Cumulative GPA: 3.70
12 starts, 9-1, 1.23 ERA, NCAA-leading five shutouts, NCAA-leading (and school record) 129 strikeouts in 80.1 innings…Led NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (14.45)…Limited opponents to a .167 batting average, allowing 48 hits in 80.1 innings…Struck out 19 batters in 7.2 innings in opening game of PSAC Tournament against West Chester – broke 99-year-old conference record for strikeouts in a game…Threw first collegiate no-hitter against Clarion on March 21 – third no-hitter in last 15 seasons by a Mercyhurst pitcher…Had nine starts of at least ten strikeouts…Allowed just 11 earned runs (15 total) in his 12 starts. Struck out 44.8% of the batters he faced in 2014…Inaugural winner of Brett Tomko Award, given to Division II’s most outstanding pitcher…ABCA/Rawlings Division II National Pitcher of the Year…Daktronics’ Ron Lenz Division II National Pitcher of the Year…First Team All-American from ABCA/Rawlings, Daktronics, and NCBWA…Capital One Academic All-America First Team…PSAC West Pitcher of the Year…Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year from ABCA/Rawlings, Daktronics, and NCBWA.
Tabitha Bemis, Edinboro
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field - Senior
Major: Health & Physical Education (Sports & Recreation Admin)
Cumulative GPA: 3.90
Two-time All-American at 2014 NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships, making her a six-time All-American (four-time indoor, two-time outdoor)…Finished fifth in the triple jump with a school-record jump of 43’ 3 ¼” along with an eighth place finish in long jump at 19’ 9” … Qualified for 100-meter hurdles, finishing 20th … Named the PSAC Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year, earning the honor for the second time…Named the PSAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships Outstanding Overall and Field Athlete for the second time after winning three events, giving her 15 overall PSAC championships…Won the triple jump for the third straight year with a jump of 41’ 10 ¾”, along with the long jump (19’ 7”) and the 100m hurdles (13.97) for the second time in three years…Added a fourth All-PSAC performance while finishing second in the 4x400-meter relay with a school-record time (3:48.05)…Named Edinboro’s Nancy Acker Award winner as the outstanding senior female athlete…Named the USTFCCCA Outdoor Track & Field Atlantic Region Field Athlete of the Year for the second time.
Aaron Dinzeo, California
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field - Junior
Major: Anthropology
Cumulative GPA: 3.90
Two-time All-American at 2014 NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships…Finished fifth in the 5000m and third in the 10000m…Named the Most Outstanding Track Athlete of PSAC Championships…Clinched PSAC Championship title in both the 5K and 10K…Named USTFCCCA All-Region in 5K, 10K…Set the all-time PSAC record and the second-best time in NCAA Division II in 10K (28:40.88) at Stanford Invitational, breaking previous mark set in 2009 by over 22 seconds…Placed fifth overall in championship flight of 5K at the Penn Relays with the seventh-fastest time in D-II (14:04.49)…Boasted the fastest times in the PSAC this spring in the 5K, 10K…Qualified for USATF Championships in 10K…Five-time USTFCCCA All-Academic…Six-time NCAA All-American…12-time All-PSAC (nine track & field, three cross country)…Eight-time USTFCCCA all-region in track & field.
Hilary Lyons, Shippensburg
Softball – Senior
Major: Accounting + Online MBA
Cumulative GPA: 3.97
2014 CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-America Second Team…First Shippensburg softball Academic All-American since 2006…2014 All-PSAC East First Team…Set SHIP’s single-season school record for stolen bases with 32, leading the conference in the process...Hit .347 with 20 RBIs and 12 sacrifices while scoring 20 runs…Caught just three times in 35 stolen-base attempts this season…Three-time Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District performer…Two-time PSAC Champion Scholar (2012, 2013)…Two-time All-PSAC East First Team (2012, 2014)…Totaled 56 stolen bases, second-most in school history, along with 122 hits, a .319 average, 35 RBIs and 79 runs scored…Stole the first 42 bases of her career before her first caught stealing occurred in 2014…Played in 169 career games, with 132 starts.
Zack Kempa, IUP
Men’s Golf – Senior
Major: Marketing
Cumulative GPA: 3.675
Named PSAC Men’s Golfer of the Year of the second straight season, leading the conference with and finishing 41st in Division II with a 73.31 stroke average...PING All-Region selection…Had seven top 10 finishes, including victories at Clarion’s Hal Hansen Invitational and the Glad Springs Intercollegiate Championship…10 of his 29 rounds came at or below par, with a low round of 68, which came in the opening round of the NCAA Atlantic/East Regional…Sunk birdie putt on final hole of the third round at the NCAA championships, clinching a top eight finish for the Crimson Hawks, sending them to match play for the first time in program history…Finished second at PSAC championships and third at NCAA regional championships…Awaiting GCAA All-American selections later this month, which would be the third of his career.
Brandon Martinez, Kutztown
Baseball – Junior
Major: Business Administration
Cumulative GPA: 3.85
Selected to the All-Atlantic Region Second Team by the ABCA, Daktronics and the NCBWA for the second consecutive year…Career-best .392 batting average was the fifth-best output in the PSAC...First Team All-PSAC East…Was 35-for-36 on stolen base attempts, setting a new KU record for steals in a season…Held a perfect fielding percentage (1.000) this season with a career-high 102 putouts…First Kutztown baseball player to be named to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team…Two-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete.
Kate Pratt, Mansfield
Softball – Senior
Major: Elementary/Early Childhood Education
Cumulative GPA: 3.885
Named Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team …PSAC East Player of the Year…Earned First Team Daktronics All-Region honors…Led Mansfield to PSAC and NCAA softball tournament appearances and first NCAA playoff win in program history…Batted .343 with 29 extra-base hits including 15 doubles, a triple and nine home runs…Posted a team-best 31 RBIs and scored 33 runs…Posted a 10-8 record on the mound with a 1.91 ERA…Struck out a team-best 76 batters in 120.2 innings worked…Totaled 14 complete games and four shutouts…Four-time All-PSAC selection…Back-to-back PSAC divisional Player of the Year (East 2014, Central 2013)…Second Team NFCA All-American in 2013…First Team NFCA All-Region in 2012 and 2013…Four-time Division II ADA Academic Achievement Award.
Tanya Timko, IUP
Women’s Tennis – Junior
Major: Psychology
Cumulative GPA: 3.967
PSAC West Athlete of the Year…First Team All-PSAC West singles and doubles…Led team and tied for IUP single season record with 50 combined wins…Also led team with 23 singles wins and again tied for program record with 27 doubles victories…No. 1 singles and doubles player on team that finished as the runners-up in the PSAC for the fourth consecutive season, while also advancing the NCAA round of 16 for the fourth straight year…Perfect 6-0 in PSAC West play and 6-1 against top 20 players in the Atlantic Region…Highest individual rankings were first in the Atlantic Region and 19th in Division II…Defeated Cal’s Lucie Sipkova, then the fifth-ranked player in the nation, in a thrilling three-set comeback win…2014 PSAC Champion Scholar…2014 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District 2 At-Large…Third all-time in IUP history with 142 combined wins and 78 doubles victories…Fifth all-time with 64 singles wins.
David Reinhardt, Slippery Rock
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field – Sophomore
Major: Exercise Science/3+3 Physical Therapy
Cumulative GPA: 3.79
National Champion and All-American in the javelin at NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships with a throw of 68.83m…Only PSAC athlete to win an individual national title at 2014 outdoor nationals…No. 1 ranked javelin thrower in the region…Third best single throw of all Division II athletes this year…Most Outstanding Field Athlete at PSAC Outdoor Championships…Placed in all four throwing events at PSAC outdoor meet…Recorded NCAA provisional qualifying throw in the discus (49.30 meters)…USTFCCCA All-Region in javelin…Two-Time All-Region…Two-time NCAA National Championship javelin qualifier.
Natalie Wideman, California
Softball – Senior
Major: Sport Management
Cumulative GPA: 3.91
Led the PSAC with a .454 batting average (59-for-130), 49 runs scored and a .535 on-base percentage…Ranked fourth in the league with 22 steals after entering the year with eight career steals…Finished with 11 doubles, six homers and 31 RBI…Tallied a 22-game hitting streak after moving to the leadoff spot…Belted the game-winning, solo homer in the bottom of the sixth in PSAC Championship Game…Helped lead program to its first conference title since 2000 and first undefeated divisional record since 1998…Became first Cal U player since 1997 to be a NFCA All-American and Academic All-American in the same season…Two-time Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American (Third Team 2012, First Team 2014)…NFCA First-Team All-American…Daktronics All-America Honorable Mention…PSAC West Athlete of the Year…PSAC Tournament MVP…Three-time All-PSAC West First Team (2011-12, 2014)…Finished career ranked among top 10 in program history with a .377 average, 155 runs scored and 30 stolen bases.