Horizon League announces Academic All-League teams for fall sports

Dec. 15, 2005

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Always conscious of the "student" in "student-athlete," the Horizon League recognized the academic achievements of its members Thursday (Dec. 15) with the announcement of the 2005 Fall Academic All-Horizon League teams.

A total of 49 student-athletes from five sports were honored in balloting by the League's faculty athletics representatives and sports information directors. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee led the way with 11 selections, followed by the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (seven). Butler University and the University of Detroit Mercy each had six student-athletes recognized, followed by Loyola University Chicago and Wright State University (five apiece). The University of Illinois at Chicago boasted four honorees, with Cleveland State University and Youngstown State University receiving three and two awards, respectively.

Four members of UW-Milwaukee's League-Championship squad represent the school on the 12-player Academic All-League men's soccer unit, led by Second-Team CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree and First-Team All-League selection Neil Dombrowski. The senior has maintained a 3.61 grade-point average as a business major and finished second in the League in scoring with 23 points this season.

Sophomore teammate Steve Bode gained First-Team All-League notice on the field and sophomore Billy Meier was a Second-Team choice for their work on the team's defensive group. Bode boasts a 3.71 GPA in his psychology major, while Meier's portfolio features a 3.75 mark as a business major. Redshirt freshman Grant Fernstrum rounds out the quartet of Panthers with his 3.49 GPA as an undeclared major. Fernstrum led the nation with a 0.47 goals-against average, helping UW-Milwaukee to a fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and a 14-4-5 overall record.

Detroit junior Jason Massoglia was the League's Defensive Player of the Year in 2005, anchoring the Titan back line and leading his team to the regular-season League championship. Massoglia's 3.567 GPA as an accounting major earned Academic All-League acclaim from voters, while UIC junior Tonci Skroce powered his way to eight goals and 17 points to gain both Academic All-League recognition plus First-Team All-League honors. Skroce carries a 3.30 GPA as a marketing major.

UW-Green Bay senior Adam Ben-Zikri garnered his third consecutive Academic All-League certificate after having earned Second-Team Academic All-America honors for the second year in a row. He boasts a 3.927 GPA as a business administration major. Butler senior Patrick Reilly was also a Second-Team CoSIDA choice this fall for his 3.80 GPA as a triple major (history, philosophy and French), while teammate and fellow senior John Mariscalco gained a spot on the Academic All-League team with his 3.26 mark as a finance major.

Loyola's Joe Nierzwicki (3.67, senior, biology) and Cleveland State's Tom Sadd (3.78, sophomore, business) comprise the remainder of the team. Nierzwicki and Mariscalco also gained a third consecutive award, with Dombrowski and Massoglia recognized for the second year in a row.

In women's soccer, League champion UW-Milwaukee boasts three of the 11 honorees, including sophomore Ginny Graczyk and senior Janice McGann. Graczyk was a First-Team performer on the field, bolstering the Panther defense which posted a League-record 13 shutouts on the way to a 12-5-5 finish. She carries a 3.874 GPA as a heath sciences and psychology major. McGann's efforts drew Second-Team All-League honors while her work in the classroom as an advertising major has produced a 3.689 GPA. Senior Katie Campion joins her teammates on the Academic All-League rolls, posting a 3.694 GPA as an elementary education major.

The UW-Green Bay tandem of Stephanie Gross and Sarah Oligney added to their First-Team All-League laurels with the academic awards, joining fellow First-Team All-League selections Allison Epple and Mary Parker of Detroit. Oligney earned Player of the Year honors after posting six goals and a League-best ten assists for 22 points this season, while Gross finished second on the loop charts with nine goals and 23 points. Oligney carries a 3.341 GPA as a human biology major, with Gross' work as a human development and psychology major earning a 3.754 average. Parker surpassed both players on the field, topping the League with 24 points (ten goals and four assists), while Epple led a Titan defense which blanked nine opponents and maintained a 1.00 goals-against average. Parker's efforts as a biology major have earned a 3.788 GPA with Epple boasting a 3.55 rate as a mathematics and secondary education major.

The remainder of the Academic All-League team includes Butler's Kate Lord (senior, 3.43, finance), Wright State's Michelle Sarmiento (senior, 3.850, marketing), UW-Green Bay's Dixie Schubert (junior, 3.705, human development and psychology) plus Loyola's Jamie Wasielewski (senior, 3.77, elementary education). Lord joins Gross and Parker as repeat honorees this fall.

UW-Milwaukee placed three players on the 12-member Academic All-League volleyball team, with junior Cheryl Hegemann joining fellow First-Team All-League choice Melissa Lange and junior Sarah Moore. Hegemann ranked seventh in the final League stat charts with her 3.22 kills-per-game pace while boasting a 3.830 GPA in her education major. Lange's First-Team status followed a season which featured a rate of 10.34 assists per game as the senior maintained a 3.633 GPA as a Spanish major, while Moore's .285 hitting percentage and 1.24 blocks-per-game average each ranked third in the League. In the classroom, she is an actuarial sciences major with a 3.707 grade-point average.

Wright State also had three honorees with First-Team All-League pick Sarah Poling (3.782, junior, biological sciences) joining teammates Lindsey Frank (sophomore, 3.719, rehabilitation services) and Lisa Griffith (senior, 3.447, biomedical engineering). Poling's 3.68 kills-per-game average was fourth-best in the League this fall.

Horizon League Player of the Year Nickole Kennedy and Cleveland State teammate Jenna Maddocks join the Panther trio. Kennedy's credits include a League-best .318 hitting percentage along with 3.83 kills per game (third in the League) and 1.06 blocks per game (fifth), helping CSU to a program-best second-place finish in the loop standings. In the classroom she boasts a 3.25 GPA as an international business major, while Maddocks owns a nearly-perfect 3.98 mark studying early childhood development.

First-Team All-League choice Betty Slinger (sophomore, 3.74, pre-medicine) and Sarah Rauen (senior, 3.80, pre-medicine) carry the UW-Green Bay banner with Youngstown State's Abby Ettenhofer (senior, 4.00, middle childhood) and Loyola's Ann Deelo (junior, 3.69, finance/marketing) rounding out the Academic All-League honor roll. Ettenhofer earned Second-Team CoSIDA Academic All-America recognition this fall and is the lone player to repeat selection on this year's Academic All-League list.

Butler's Nick Goodliffe paced the seven-member men's cross country team, boasting a 3.939 GPA as a graduate student majoring in education. Goodliffe finished third at the League Championship meet this fall to earn First-Team All-League honors. Fellow First-Teamer Josh Nygren of UW-Milwaukee was three spots behind Goodliffe at the League meet and adds the academic accolade in recognition of the senior's 3.918 GPA as a political science major.

Three Second-Team All-League performers also landed on the Academic All-League list, with Loyola senior Andy McQuillan joining Detroit senior Mead Goedert and UIC senior Mikhail Davidyan in that group. McQuillan, who took eighth place at the League meet, boasts a 3.36 GPA as a finance major, while 13th-place finisher Davidyan owns a 3.75 GPA as a computer science major. Goedert has a 3.746 mark while studying social work and finished 14th at this year's League summit. Goodliffe, Nygren, McQuillan and Davidyan are all repeat selections with the UIC and UW-Milwaukee standouts each gaining recognition for the third consecutive year.

The rest of the team features Wright State's Josh Burke (3.924, senior, marketing), along with Detroit's Andrew Hayner (4.00, sophomore, political science and history).

Just as she did on the course, Butler graduate student Victoria Mitchell ran away from the competition for women's cross country honors. The Australia native topped the voting, adding the Academic All-League honor to her League Runner of the Year plaque from 2005. Mitchell won her second consecutive League championship this fall and finished fourth at the NCAA Championships. In the classroom, she owns a 3.939 grade-point average as an education major.

Butler teammate Katie Stuckey also gained First-Team All-League honors for her sixth-place showing at the loop summit. Her 3.684 GPA in biology drew Academic All-League recognition, enabling her to join a pair of Second-Team All-League performers on the academic rolls. Youngstown State senior Emily Cicero narrowly missed top honors on the course with her eighth-place finish, but a 3.80 GPA as a food and nutrition major was enough to earn Academic All-League notice. Loyola sophomore Rachel Hansen finished 14th at the League meet and boasts a 3.93 mark as a biology major.

Also receiving Academic All-League honors were Detroit's Ashley Gibbs (3.956, junior, biochemistry), UIC's Lisa Petty (3.81, junior, teaching of history) and Jessica Shefchik of UW-Green Bay (3.818, senior, elementary education). Petty and Mitchell are the only harriers to repeat Academic honors from last season.

The Horizon League honors student-athletes with 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 3.25 or higher (based on a 4.00 scale) and have completed at least one year at the member institution and earned 24 semester-hour or 36 quarter-hour credits.

Academic All-Horizon League Teams -- Fall 2005

Men's Soccer
Name * School * Yr. * GPA * Major(s)
Adam Ben-Zikri * UW-Green BaySr. * 3.927 * Business Administration
Steve Bode * UW-Milwaukee * So. * 3.71 * Psychology
Neil Dombrowski * UW-Milwaukee * Sr. * 3.61 * Business
Grant Fernstrum * UW-Milwaukee * Fr.-R * 3.49 * Undecided
Derek Kosek * UIC * Jr. * 3.35 * Pre-Physical Therapy
John Mariscalco * Butler * Sr. * 3.26Finance
Jason Massoglia * Detroit * Jr. * 3.567 * Accounting
Billy Meier * UW-Milwaukee * Jr. * 3.75 * Business
Joe Nierzwicki * Loyola * Sr. * 3.67 * Biology
Patrick Reilly * Butler * Sr.3.80 * History, Philosophy, French
Tom Sadd * Cleveland State * So. * 3.78 * Business
Tonci Skroce * UIC * Jr. * 3.30 * Marketing

Women's Soccer
Name * School * Yr. * GPA * Major(s)
Katie Campion * UW-Milwaukee * Sr. * 3.694 * Elementary Education
Allison Epple * Detroit * Sr. * 3.550 * Math/Secondary Education
Ginny Graczyk * UW-Milwaukee * So. * 3.874 * Health Sciences, Psychology
Stephanie Gross * UW-Green Bay * Jr. * 3.754 * Human Development, Psychology
Kate Lord * Butler * Sr. * 3.43 * Finance
Janice McGann * UW-Milwaukee * Sr. * 3.689 * Advertising
Sarah Oligney * UW-Green Bay * Sr. * 3.341 * Human Biology
Mary Parker * Detroit * Jr. * 3.788 * Biology
Michelle Sarmiento * Wright State * Sr. * 3.850 * Marketing
Dixie Schubert * UW-Green Bay * Jr. * 3.705 * Human Development, Psychology
Jamie Wasielewski * Loyola * Sr. * 3.77 * Elementary Education

Volleyball
Name * School * Yr. * GPA * Major
Ann Deelo * Loyola * Jr. * 3.69 * Finance/Marketing
Abby Ettenhofer * Youngstown State * Sr. * 4.00 * Middle Childhood Education
Lindsey Frank * Wright State * So. * 3.719 * Rehabilitation Services
Lisa Griffith * Wright State * Sr. * 3.447 * Biomedical Engineering
Cheryl Hegemann * UW-Milwaukee * Jr. * 3.830 * Education
Nickole Kennedy * Cleveland State * Sr. * 3.25 * International Business
Melissa Lange * UW-Milwaukee * Sr. * 3.633 * Spanish
Jenna Maddocks * Cleveland State * Sr. * 3.98 * Early Childhood Education
Sarah Moore * UW-Milwaukee * Jr. * 3.707 * Actuarial Science
Sarah Poling * Wright State * Jr. * 3.782 * Biological Sciences
Sarah Rauen * UW-Green Bay * Sr. * 3.80 * Pre-Medicine
Betty Slinger * UW-Green Bay * So. * 3.74 * Pre-Medicine

Men's Cross Country
Name * School * Yr. * GPA * Major(s)
Josh Burke * Wright State * Sr. * 3.924 * Marketing
Mikhail Davidyan * UIC * Sr. * 3.75 * Computer Science
Mead Goedert * Detroit * Sr. * 3.746 * Social Work
Nick Goodliffe * Butler * Grad. * 3.939 * Education
Andrew Hayner * Detroit * So. * 4.00 * Political Science and History
Andy McQuillan * Loyola * Sr. * 3.36 * Finance
Josh Nygren * UW-Milwaukee * Sr. * 3.918 * Political Science

Women's Cross Country
Name * School * Yr. * GPA * Major
Emily Cicero * Youngstown State * Sr. * 3.80 * Food and Nutrition
Ashley Gibbs * Detroit * Jr. * 3.956 * Biochemistry
Rachel Hansen * Loyola * So. * 3.93 * Biology
Victoria Mitchell * Butler * Grad. * 3.939 * Education
Lisa Petty * UIC * Jr. * 3.81 * Teaching of History
Jessica Shefchik * UW-Green Bay * Sr. * 3.818 * Elementary Education
Katie Stuckey * Butler * Sr. * 3.684 * Biology