Annville, PA - Eleven Falcons were honored by the Middle Atlantic Conference on Thursday in their release of the inaugural Academic All-Conference Teams for the Spring of 2014. The award is in its first year of existence for the MAC and seeks to recognize the top student-athletes in each sport across a combination of the Commonwealth and Freedom divisions.
Recipients of the award must carry at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average (GPA) and must be top performers in their respective sports. Unlike the conference's Academic Honor Roll,
which recognizes all student-athletes with at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA, the Academic All-Conference teams are voted upon by sports information directors from across all member schools.
As such, the Academic All-Conference Teams give special attention to student-athletes that have most impressively combined athletic proficiency and outstanding classroom performance. Each team is also, like the All-America Academic program, limited in number to reflect the sport's customary field.
The first season of the award was the Fall of 2013,
when 11 Messiah student-athletes were honored and
eight Messiah student-athletes were honored in the Winter of 2013-14.
The Falcons' spring recipients are listed below, with a small snapshot of their career achievements. (GPA and major listed in parentheses.)
Baseball (Nine Members)Joseph Saufley (3.96 GPA, Marketing/Communication) - First Team All-Commonwealth; third on team in batting average; fourth on team in RBI; became key utility man for Messiah during the 2014 season.
Softball (Nine Members)Courtney Allen (3.89 GPA, Accounting) - First Team All-Commonwealth; Third Team All-Region; CoSIDA Academic All-District; led Messiah with 13 extra base hits and 19 walks; did not make an error after moving from shortstop to CF this season.
Becky Notte (3.98 GPA, Education with Dual Certification Prek-4 Grade and Special Education) - First Team All-Commonwealth and First Team All-Region; led the Falcons in batting average, at-bats, hits, RBI, SLUG, and on-base percentage.
Men's Lacrosse (Twelve Members)Will Franken (3.60 GPA, Education Certification Grades 4-8 - Honorable Mention All-Commonwealth; Falcons' leader in goals, points, shooting percentage, shots on goal, and shots on goal %.
Women's Lacrosse (Twelve Members)Madi Brunk (3.89 GPA, Engineering) - Second Team All-Commonwealth; Second most on team with 67 points; 40 assists led team high and two shy of program's single season record; breakout season with career-highs in goals, assists, points, shots, ground balls, draw controls, and caused turnovers.
Lizzy Keeney (3.45 GPA, Eduction Certificication Grades 4-8) - Third Team All-American; First Team All-Region; First Team All-Commonwealth; MAC Scholar-Athlete for Women's Lacrosse; second all-time scorer for Messiah with 234 goals; second all-time with 324 points; first all-time with 314 draw controls; fourth all-time with 90 assists.
Claire Stikeleather (3.66 GPA, Nursing) - Second Team All-Region; First Team All-Commonwealth; only player for Messiah to be in top four on team in goals, assists, points, ground balls, caused turnovers, and draw controls.
Men's Track (Ten Members)Trevor Stutzman (3.68 GPA, Nutrition & Dietetics) - 2014 MAC Outdoor co-Field Player of the Year; MAC Champion in Shot put and Discus; finished 14th in Discus at Nationals; finished fifth place in Shot Put at Nationals, All-American in Shotput for Indoor and Outdoor Season; named CoSIDA Academic All-District;
Men's Tennis (Seven Members)Michael Brookhart (3.81 GPA, Marketing) - First Team All-Commonwealth; No. 1 player for Messiah; 4-2 in conference singles; 5-1 in conference doubles.
Peter Shuck (3.99 GPA, Mathematics/ Computer & Information Science) - Dynamic No. 3 player for Messiah; 4-1 in conference singles; 5-1 in doubles.
Men's Golf (Six Members)Austin Galaska (3.67 GPA, Engineering) - Named Commonwealth Golfer of the Year after shooting 153 (+10) to finish first at Commonwealth Championship and lead Messiah to the 2014 Commonwealth title; only Commonwealth golfer to finish better than +16 at the conference tournament.
