Twenty-Six Falcons Named Distinguished Scholar-Athletes

December 19, 2016 | Football, General, Men's Cross Country, Men's Soccer, Women's Cross Country, Women's Soccer, Volleyball

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

Cleveland, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced today that 26 Bowling Green State University student-athletes have been named Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, the most in the league.

Bowling Green's 26 honorees across the seven fall MAC sports (although BGSU only competes in six of those sports) were two more than Kent State. Northern Illinois and Western Michigan had 21 Distinguished Scholar-Athletes each and Eastern Michigan had 20.

Nine members of the BGSU football team were named Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, most in the conference in the sport. Women's cross country was tied for the most in the league with six honorees and men's cross country had three, tied for second-most.

"Having 26 of our student athletes be named Distinguished Scholar-Athletes by the MAC is a testament to their dedication to fulfilling their academic goals while participating at a high level in their sport," Chet Hesson, Assistant Athletics Director for Academics and Student Services, said. "Leading the MAC both academically and athletically are part of our collective goals. These 26 student-athletes clearly demonstrate their desire to excel in the classroom and on their respective playing surface."

A year ago, Bowling Green had 20 student-athletes named Distinguished Scholar-Athletes during the fall season. In total, 12 of this year's honorees were named to the list for the second time, while six (men's soccer's Max Auden, Pat Flynn and Joe Sullivan and football's Joseph Davidson, Nate Locke and Ben Steward) have been named in each of the three years of the existence of the award.

Nick Voth (men's cross country), Kelsie Mothersead (women's cross country), Rachel Walny (women's cross country), Alexa Cheripko (women's soccer) and Locke all maintain a perfect 4.0 grade point average. No other program had more than four student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

In total the MAC's faculty athletic representatives named 236 student-athletes as the 'best of the best' among the seven fall sports. Distinguished Scholar-Athletes have been named for three years and are given to students who have excelled in both athletics and academics. Student-athletes with a 3.20 cumulative grade point average who participated in at least 50 percent of contests are eligible to be voted on for Distinguished Scholar-Athlete. First-year students and junior college transfers in the first year of residence are not eligible.

Later this year, the MAC will announce Distinguished Scholar-Athletes for the remaining 16 winter and spring sports sponsored by the conference.

Bowling Green's Distinguished Scholar Athletes

Men's Cross Country
Noah Schaub, Sophomore, 3.357, Pre-Exercise Science (Uniontown, Ohio)
Kohl Taberner, Junior, 3.588, Political Science (Holland, Ohio)
^ Nick Voth, Junior, 4.000, Exercise Science (Grand Blanc, Mich.)

Women's Cross Country
Cassandra Boyle, Sophomore, 3.500, Engineering Technology (New Knoxville, Ohio)
^ Elena Lancioni, Junior, 3.890, Exercise Science (La Porte, Ind.)
Kelsie Mothersead, Sophomore, 4.000, Exercise Science (Avon, Ind.)
Jody Musser, Senior, 3.886, Communication Sciences and Disorders (Massillon, Ohio)
^ Rebecca Schott, Senior, 3.895, Health Science (Montgomery, Mich.)
^ Rachel Walny, Junior, 4.000, Exercise Science (Clinton Township, Mich.)

Men's Soccer
^* Max Auden, Senior, 3.619, Accounting/Finance (Naperville, Ill.)
^* Pat Flynn, Senior, 3.875, Accounting (Naperville, Ill.)
^* Joe Sullivan, Senior, 3.931, Finance (Naperville, Ill.)

Women's Soccer
^ Alexa Cheripko, Senior, 4.000, Biology (Pickerington, Ohio)
Melissa Needham, Senior, 3.971, Exercise Science (Saline, Mich.)

Volleyball
Madeline Garda, Senior, 3.711, Early Childhood Education (West Chester, Ohio)
Isabel Kovacic, Sophomore, 3.937, Chemistry (Littleton, Colo.)
Alyssa Maloney, Senior, 3.657, Health Science (Homer Glen, Ill.)

Football
Zac Bartman, Senior, 3.790 GPA, Mathematics (Mansfield, Ohio)
Jamari Bozeman, Sophomore, 3.272 GPA, Sport Management (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
Terrance Bush, Senior, 3.577 GPA, Biology (South Bend, Ind.)
^* Joseph Davidson, Junior, 3.945 GPA, Finance/Mathematics (Findlay, Ohio)
^ Ryan Hunter, Junior, 3.734 GPA, Criminal Justice (North Bay, Ontario)
^* Nate Locke, Junior, 4.00 GPA, Psychology (Canton, Ohio)
James Morgan, R-Freshman, 3.923 GPA, Creative Writing (Green Bay, Wis.)
Trevor Roop, Junior, 3.777 GPA, Public Health (Convoy, Ohio)
^* Ben Steward, Senior, 3.637 GPA, Exercise Science (Holt, Mich.)

*2014 Distinguished Scholar Athlete
^2015 Distinguished Scholar Athlete