Penguins Have Spring Sports League-High 18 Academic Honorees

by YSU

Sunday, Jun 21, 2015 9:44 am

Youngstown State had a Horizon League-best 18 student-athletes garner Academic all-conference honors during the spring sports season, the league announced on Wednesday.

Five of YSU's 18 selections are members of the women's track and field. Three members of the men's track and field program and women's golf team's were honored. A pair of student-athletes from softball and women's tennis programs were joined by single honorees from the baseball, men's tennis and men's golf programs. The department was the only Horizon League school to have a representative on each of the eight squads who were named.

Youngstown State had 32 total Academic All-Horizon League honorees during the 2014-15 academic year with nine coming in the winter and five more coming in the fall. Last spring, YSU had 20 student-athletes selected, which was the most by a league school in at least a decade. For the year the program had 34.

The student-athletes who were named academic all-league include: Kevin Hix (baseball), Miranda Castiglione (softball), Sarah Dowd (softball), Jon Hutnyan (men's track and field), Garrett Mathias (men's track and field), Eric Rupe (men's track and field), Nina Grambling (women's track and field), Jessica Parham (women's track and field), Hannah Ropp (women's track and field), Brittany Stockmaster (women's track and field), McKenzie Sturtz (women's track and field), Silviu Mistreanu (men's tennis), Marta Burak (women's tennis), Annina Brendel (women's tennis), Brandon Pluchinksy (men's golf), Emily Dixon (women's golf), Allison Mitzel (women's golf) and Aislynn Merling (women's golf).

Three Penguins earned academic all-league status for the third time in their careers. Mistreanu became the first men's tennis player to be a three-time honoree. Burak joins Gina Peretti (2005-07) as the only three-time women's tennis honorees. Rupe joins a group of seven men's track and field student-athletes to be honored at least three times. Eight members of the group are two-time recipients: Pluchinsky, Merling, Mitzel, Brendel, Hutnyan, Grambling, Parham and Stockmaster.

The Horizon League recognizes student-athletes with seasonal Academic All-League Teams in each of its 19 championship sports. To be eligible for Academic All-Horizon League consideration, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade-point-average of 3.20 or higher (based on a 4.00 scale) and have completed at least one year at the member institution, having earned 24 semester-hour or 36 quarter-hour credits.

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