Pirates Honored at SAAC Banquet
4/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | General
The Seton Hall University Department of Athletics held its annual Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Awards Banquet on Thursday, April 30, recognizing student-athletes for their achievements in the classroom and on the field of play during the 2014-15 academic year.
The SAAC Awards Banquet honors both scholastic and competitive accomplishments. In addition, awards are presented to outstanding male and female student-athletes from the freshman, sophomore and junior classes.
Senior Female and Male Athlete of the Year Awards will be handed out at the fourth-annual Senior Banquet; to be held on Tuesday, May 12 at Maplewood Country Club.
In the junior class,Tabatha Richardson-Smith(Bay City, Texas)of the women's basketball team and diver Gabby Signorelli (Massapequa, N.Y.) were selected as co-recipients of the Female Athlete of the Year Award while men's golfer Ryan Snouffer (Sparta, N.J.) took home the Male Athlete of the Year Award.
Tessa Fournier (Redondo Beach, Calif.) of volleyball and men's golf standout Lloyd Jefferson Go (Guadalupe Cebu, Philippines) were honored from the sophomore class while softball's Alexis Walkden (Cibolo, Texas) and men's basketball forward Angel Delgado (Bajos De Haina, Dominican Republic) were honored from the freshman class.
The second-annual Saint John Paul II Sport and Spirituality Award went to men's soccer captain Mateusz Brela (Kielce, Poland), marking the second consecutive year that a member of the program has garnered the award. Instituted in 2013-14 to recognize a senior who exemplifies the virtues lauded by the "Athlete Pope," the inaugural award was given to former goalkeeperKevin Bonder.
The academic awards were presented byMatt Geibel, Director of Academic Support Services for Student-Athletes, and Faculty Athletic Representative,Dr. Laura Schopmmann.
As a group, Seton Hall University student-athletes currently hold a cumulative GPA of 3.32, a new all-time high. Thursday night's banquet provided the opportunity to highlight their collective commitment to academic excellence and reward those who have performed at an exceptional level in the classroom.
The team academic awards, given to the men's and women's squad with the highest cumulative GPAs after the fall 2014 semester, were swept by head coach John Moon's squads as men's cross country (3.56) and women's cross country (3.54) took top honors. The men's cross country squad has also taken home the last two BIG EAST Team Excellence Awards for having the top collective GPA among the conference's cross country teams.
The cross country program was also represented by both Scholar Athlete of the Year Award winners; an honor reserved for the senior student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade point averages after the fall 2014 semester.Mary Migton(Ledgewood, N.J.), earned the award on the female side for her work as an elementary and special education major while the male award went to Tyler Orner (Sinking Spring, Pa.); an accounting major who will graduate with a bachelor's and master's degree after four years.
Volleyball seniorShelbey Manthorpe (Merion Station, Pa.)was also recognized for becoming Seton Hall's first-ever BIG EAST Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and earning a $4,000 toward graduate studies.
Academic standouts from the junior and sophomore classes were also recognized and both classes saw a duo of winners of the swimming & diving and baseball programs. Women's swimming & diving team member Katie Adams (Linwood, N.J.)andZack Weigel(Oak Park, Ill.)of baseballearned the junior awards while Annie Bucca (New Brunswick, N.J.)andJackson Martin(Collegeville, Pa.) repeated as award winners in the current sophomore class after capturing the same honors as freshmen last year.
The Freshmen Scholar Athletes for 2014-15 included a group of five as Allegra Egizi (Beverly, Mass.) (cross country), Katie Landes (Stony Point, N.Y.) (women's soccer) shared the award with women's swimming & diving newcomers Courtney Regan (Southbury, Conn.) and Kylene Ronayne (Springfield, Pa.) while men's cross country runner Jimmy Sause (Bloomfield, N.J.) was tabbed for the men.
The Seton Hall Academic All-Star Team, comprised of the 10 student-athletes with the highest cumulative GPA through a minimum of two full semesters, included Adams, Bucca, Martin, Migton and Orner as well as volleyball'sSam Duncan(Tucson, Ariz.),women's soccer junior Emily Hansinger (Mount Laurel, N.J.), women's golfer Ali Kruse (Overland Park, Kan.), Julian Spindler (Weiersbach, Germany) of men's soccer and men's cross country senior John Walsh (Deltaville, Va.).
Duncan, Kruse, Migton, Orner, and Walsh all collected the award for the third-straight year while Adams and Hansinger have achieved academic all-star status within the department in each of the two years they have been eligible.
This year's spirit award was presented toHayley DiPillo, a senior member of the Seton Hall cheerleading squad.
| 2014-15 SETON HALL STUDENT-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR | |
 | Tabatha Richardson-Smith WOMEN'S BASKETBALL JUNIOR FEMALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR (CO-RECIPIENT)
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 | Gabby Signorelli WOMEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING JUNIOR FEMALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR (CO-RECIPIENT)
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 | Ryan Snouffer MEN'S GOLF JUNIOR MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
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 | Tessa Fournier WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL SOPHOMORE FEMALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
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 | Lloyd Jefferson Go MEN'S GOLF SOPHOMORE MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
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 | Alexis Walkden SOFTBALL FRESHMAN FEMALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
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 | Angel Delgado MEN'S BASKETBALL FRESHMAN MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
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