Release courtesy of the D-II CCA
BURNSVILLE, Minn. - Shannon Gagne of the University of New Haven (Northeast 10) and Ian Wild of Mercyhurst College (PSAC) have been named the top female and male Division II Scholar-Athletes of the Year by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (DII CCA).
Last month, 16 regional scholar-athlete award winners were selected by the DII CCA. Gagne and Wild were named from this field of eight men’s regional winners and eight women’s regional winners.
In the twelve year history of this award, Gagne gives the Northeast 10 its first national award winner while Wild is the PSAC’s second winner since Jamie Wolf in 2006.
“We are all very proud of the quality student-athletes that Division II institutions produce annually,” says Butch Raymond, commissioner of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and president of the DII CCA. “The balance of academics and athletics is the hallmark of Division II and all of our award winners exemplify the best of both worlds.”
Gagne, a track and field student-athlete, was the three-time East Region Athlete of the Year (2009, 2010, 2011) as well as the Northeast 10 Scholar-Athlete Excellence Award recipient in 2011. She is a 16-time Northeast-10 Conference Champion as well as a 4-time NE-10 Conference Championship MVP. She holds conferences records for the 55m dash, 100m dash, 200m dash, 400m dash and Long Jump. The Meriden, CT native was on the Northeast-10 Conference Commissioners’ Honor Roll every semester eligible and was a member of the NE-10 Conference All-Academic Team 2009-10 and 2010-11. The Criminal Justice major was on the Dean’s List every semester and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.9 GPA.
Wild was an integral part of both the PSAC Champion football team and the National Champion men’s lacrosse team. In football, Wild started all 13 games on defense finishing third on the team in tackles (79), forced a team-high three fumbles and had the sixth-best tackles for loss mark with five (-21 yards). In lacrosse, Wild helped Mercyhurst win its first ever national championship in men’s lacrosse. He was fifth on the team in scoring (20 points) and claimed the Outstanding Player Award in the championship game. The Pittsburgh, PA native, a Business major with a 3.9 GPA, was the NCAA men’s lacrosse recipient of the Elite 88 Award as well as the 2010 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team member among other honors.
Women’s regional winners along with Gagne were:
Neely Spence – Shippensburg - Cross Country/Track & Field – Human Communications (3.87)
Kate Griewisch – Lenoir-Rhyne – Cross Country/Track & Field – Biology (3.81)
Barbi Pocza – Barry University – Women’s Tennis – Finance (3.71)
Lindsay Lettow – University of Central Missouri – Track & Field – Psychology (3.73)
Samantha Murphy – Grand Canyon – Basketball – Pre-Physical Therapy (3.97)
Rebecca Anderson – U of Minnesota Duluth – Soccer – Biochemistry/Molecular Biology (3.93)
Monica Kinney – Grand Valley State – Track & Field – Nursing (3.78)
Joining Wild as men’s regional winners were:
Vladimir Milosavljevic – Dowling College – Soccer – Accounting and Finance (4.0)
Carter Capps – Mount Olive – Baseball – Environmental Science (3.46)
Daniel Stapff – Barry University – Golf – Finance (3.917)
Kirk Jewasko – Incarnate Word – Baseball – Business Administration (3.83)
Kyle Ciliento – Grand Canyon – Soccer – Business Administration (3.98)
Matt Braithwaite – Augustana – Cross Country/Track & Field – Biology (4.0)
Matthew Laschuk – Wayne State University – Swimming – Chemistry/ Pre-Med (3.99)