Annville, PA – The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) announced today the Academic All-MAC teams for both the 2015-16 Winter and 2016 Spring seasons. Among those honored were 26 Falcons.
The Winter and Spring teams are comprised of student-athletes of any academic class that earned a 3.20 term grade point average in the second semester of the academic year. In contrast to the MAC Academic Honor Roll, which recognizes
all student-athletes with a term GPA of 3.20 or greater, the Academic All-MAC teams are elected and voted upon by a representative from each institution. The teams are also honored across both the MAC Commonwealth and MAC Freedom.
Messiah is just one of 17 institutions across the MAC Commonwealth and MAC Freedom, but the 28 total honorees represent 15% of the student-athletes recognized with the award.
Below is a list of the honorees from Messiah College with their term GPA and major listed, as well as small snapshot of their athletic achievements from the most recent season.
WINTER
Women's Basketball (10 Honorees)
Gillian Glackin (3.28 GPA, Applied Health Science) – First Team All-MAC Commonwealth and now three-time All-Conference…led Falcons in points per game (12.7) and rebounds per game (8.5) and tallied eight double-doubles…led Messiah to MAC Commonwealth Championship with incredible 30 point, 23 rebound performance in Semifinal win over Stevenson.
Men's Indoor Track & Field (10 Honorees)
Dane Cornelius (3.72 GPA, Education w/ Certification 4-8) – MAC Champion in Heptathlon with 4,011 points…also First Team All-MAC with Runner-Up finish in Pole Vault.
Tim Moses (3.84 GPA, Biology) – Took home third-straight NCAA Indoor All-American honor for Pole Vault with fourth-place finish…won third-straight MAC Indoor Pole Vault Championship with MAC Indoor record jump of 16'10."
Women's Swimming (11 Honorees)
Cassie Cotton (3.78 GPA, Health & Physical Education: K-12 Teaching) – MAC Rookie of the Year…individual Runner-Up in 50 free, 100 fly, and 200 fly…relay gold in four different events.
Emily Reale (3.81 GPA, Biochemistry) – CoSIDA Academic All-American…MAC Swimmer of the Year after leading Messiah to MAC-record 832 points and third-straight conference title…individual gold in 500 free, 400 IM, and 1650 free…relay gold in four different events.
Kaitlin Wingert (4.00 GPA, English w/ Teaching Certification) – Individual gold in 200 IM, 200 free, and 100 free…relay gold in four different events…last year's MAC ROY was second in total points at MAC Championships (teammate
Emily Reale).
Wrestling (10 Honorees)
Jeff Hojnacki (3.78 GPA, Marketing) – NCAA Division III All-American (6th) at 165 lb. weight class…won NCAA Mideast Regional Championship and took second at MAC Championships.
Greg Kabakjian (3.57 GPA, Biblical and Religious Studies) – Won first-ever MAC Championship at 149 lb. weight class.
Lucas Malmberg (3.28 GPA, Christian Ministries) – NCAA Division III National Champion at 125 lb. weight class after back-to-back National Runner-Up finishes at same weight…won both third-straight MAC Championship and NCAA Mideast Regional Championship.
Ben Swarr (3.67 GPA, English) – CoSIDA Academic All-American…NCAA Division III Champion at 174 lb. weight class with upset of No. 1 seed…second-straight MAC Championship at 174.
SPRING
Baseball (10 Honorees)
Steven Ridings (3.85 GPA, Communications) – MAC Commonwealth Pitcher of the Year…three-time All-MAC Commonwealth…led MAC Commonwealth in ERA (1.72), strikeouts (99), and batting average against (.207)...recently selected in MLB Draft by Seattle Mariners in 29th round.
Joseph Saufley (3.85 GPA, Dual Major in Marketing and Communications) – Earned second-straight CoSIDA Academic All-American honor…All-MAC Commonwealth for third-straight season…named Messiah's Male Senior Scholar-Athlete.
Softball (10 Honorees)
Courtney Allen (4.00 GPA, Accounting) – CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for NCAA Division III Softball…MAC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year…Messiah's Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year…NFCA Second Team All-American…MAC Commonwealth Pitcher of the Year…finished 27-1 with 1.59 ERA from the circle.
Becky Notte (4.00 GPA, Education Dual Certification: PreK-4 & Special Education) – Four-time NFCA All-East Region…Three-time First Team All-MAC Commonwealth…finished career as Messiah's all-time leader in hits (234), RBI (145), and doubles (52), and second all-time in batting average (.416).
Men's Lacrosse (13 Honorees)
Chris Ruger (4.00 GPA, Biology) – Second Team All-MAC Commonwealth for second-straight season…caused career-high 30 turnovers while leading MAC Commonwealth Runner-Up Messiah in groundballs (70)…ranked fourth in MAC Commonwealth in both GB/game (3.89) and CT/game (1.67).
Women's Lacrosse (12 Honorees)
Stephanie Athens (3.34 GPA, Communications) – Second Team IWLCA All-American…First Team All-Metro Region…First Team All-MAC Commonwealth…MAC Commonwealth Tournament MVP…finished in top three for Falcons in goals, assists, points, and draw controls.
Ida Ehrhardt (4.00 GPA, Dual Major in Economics and Politics) – First Team All-MAC Commonwealth…led Messiah with draw controls (52) and was second in groundballs (29)…set career-highs in goals, assists, points, caused turnovers, and DC.
Brooke Gamble (3.83 GPA, Business Administration) – CoSIDA Academic All-District…Second Team All-Metro Region…First Team All-MAC Commonwealth…now three-time All-MAC Commonwealth including former ROY and Defensive POY.
Emma Hawthorne (3.77 GPA, Education Dual Certification: PreK-4 & Special Education) – First Team All-MAC Commonwealth…selected for IWLCA Senior All-Star Game…led Messiah with 28 caused turnovers and set career-highs in caused turnovers and groundballs (29).
Men's Golf (11 Honorees)
Jordan Kirsch (3.60 GPA, Business Administration) – MAC Commonwealth Individual Champion after shooting 78-79=157 and then winning four-hole playoff against three other competitors…now three-time All-MAC Commonwealth in as many seasons.
Men's Outdoor Track & Field (10 Honorees)
Matthew Miller (3.91 GPA, Molecular Biology) – Finished ninth at NCAA Division III Championship in Javelin…Third-place finish at MAC Championships in same event with personal best throw of 196'5."
Tim Moses (3.84 GPA, Biology) – Took home third-straight NCAA Outdoor All-American honor for Pole Vault with fourth-place finish…won second-straight MAC Outdoor Pole Vault Championship with MAC Indoor record jump of 16'9.25."
Men's Tennis (10 Honorees)
Tim Dunn (3.85 GPA, Business Administration) – Last year's MAC Commonwealth ROY and Messiah's No. 1 singles and doubles player went 5-3 in conference doubles to help Falcons to third-straight MAC Championship…big singles win over No. 1 player from Stevenson in regular-season finale broke the two teams' battle for an undefeated season and top seed in the conference tournament.
Women's Tennis (10 Honorees)
Kelly Hopkins (3.50 GPA, Computer and Information Science) – First Team All-MAC Commonwealth after earning ROY last year…went 6-0 in conference singles as Messiah's No. 1 player, and also went 7-0 in conference doubles.
Ashli Livermore (4.00 GPA, Biology) – MAC Commonwealth Player of the Year and now three-time All-MAC Commonwealth…No. 1 at singles and doubles for Messiah all season to lead Falcons to first-ever MAC Commonwealth Championship…undefeated in conference singles (5-0) and doubles (6-0).
Kaitlyn Russell (3.62 GPA, English w/ Teaching Certification) – MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year after going 7-0 in conference singles and 7-0 in conference doubles matches…played at both No. 2 singles and No. 3 singles throughout the season.
