ANNVILLE, Pa. – On Monday morning, Messiah College student-athletes Leah Springer and Colin Sareyka were named the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Senior Scholar-Athletes for women's and men's basketball, respectively.
 
The MAC honor is given to one senior student-athlete across both the MAC Commonwealth and MAC Freedom (17 total institutions), essentially making it the most prestigious conference academic honor possible for a senior student-athlete. Only a single nomination for the honor can be made from each member school for each sport, and the winners are selected by a conference committee. An even 50-50 split of athletic achievement and academic excellence is considered for each nominee, on both the conference and national, including an assessment of the nominee's cumulative grade point average.

Below is a summary of the qualifications for each of Messiah's two winners for the winter of 2019-2020:
 
Leah Springer – Women's Basketball – 3.97 GPA, Economics
 
Leah Springer concluded her senior campaign by garnering numerous accolades including her first All-American honors from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and D3hoops.com.
 
Springer was also named the D3hoops.com 2019-2020 Regional Player of the Year after averaging a double-double this season with 19.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Additionally, Springer was named the MAC Commonwealth Player of the Year, the MAC Commonwealth Tournament Most Valuable Player, and First Team All-Conference.

A force on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, Springer ranked 20^th in the country with 15 double-doubles, was 18^th in the country with 553 points and led the Falcons with 54 blocked shots, 295 rebounds, and was second on the team with 49 steals. Despite these impressive numbers, Springer's senior season will always have an asterisk beside it. The Falcons' season was cut short in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For now, we can only wonder, "what could have been?"

Springer is majoring in economics and is expected to graduate in the spring of 2020. She currently holds a 3.97 GPA and was named to the MAC Winter Sports Academic Honor Roll for the third time (2017, 2018, 2020), while also being named to the Women's Basketball Academic All-MAC Team in 2018.
 
Colin Sareyka – Men's Basketball – 3.58 GPA, Criminal Justice
 
Colin Sareyka capped his career as a three-time All-MAC Commonwealth selection, including two First Team honors (2018, 2019) and a Second Team honor in 2020.

Sareyka become the seventh highest scorer in program history after accumulating 1,547 points throughout his career. During his senior season, Sareyka led the Falcons with 419 points and ranked fifth in the MAC Commonwealth with 18.2 points per game. Also known for his play making abilities, Sareyka ranked fourth in the MAC Commonwealth with 115 total assists and was second in the MAC Commonwealth averaging 5.0 assists per game.
 
Sareyka is a criminal justice major slated to graduate in the spring of 2020. He currently holds a 3.58 GPA and is a two-time MAC Winter Sports Academic Honor Roll recipient, while also being named to the Men's Basketball Academic All-MAC Team in both 2018 and 2019.
 

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