Ball State University Athletics
16 Cardinals Honored As Distinguished Scholar Athletes
February 06, 2015 | Field Hockey, Football, Women's Volleyball, Cross Country, Soccer
CLEVELAND, Ohio – A total of 16 student-athletes from Ball State's five fall sport programs during the 2014-15 academic season have been honored as Mid-American Conference Distinguished Scholar Athletes as voted by faculty athletic representatives at MAC institutions to represent the 'best of the best' from each sports' Academic All-MAC Teams.
Soccer led the way for Ball State with six representatives, followed by women's volleyball with four and cross country, football and field hockey with two each. Overall, a total of 194 MAC student-athletes were selected for the first-year award.
The Distinguished Scholar Athlete award is given to student-athletes who have excelled in athletics and academics. All student-athletes with a 3.20 GPA and who participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for their sport were named to the previously announced Academic All-MAC Team. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence were not eligible for the award.
From the Academic All-MAC Teams for each sport, the faculty athletic representatives selected the 'best of the best' to be honored with the Distinguished Scholar Athlete Award for the 2014-15 season. The number of Distinguished Scholar Athletes from each sport was equivalent to the number of first-team selections or 33% of nominees, whichever was greater.
Later this spring, the MAC will announce the Distinguished Scholar Athletes from the remaining 16 winter and spring sports sponsored by the Conference.
2014 MAC Women's Cross Country Distinguished Student-Athletes:
Caitlynn Edon, Ball State, Senior, 3.794, Nursing (New Palestine, Ind.)
Courtney Edon, Ball State, Senior, 3.865, Nuring (New Palestine, Ind.)
2014 MAC Women's Field Hockey Distinguished Student-Athletes:
Bryce Barnes, Ball State, Sophomore, 4.00, Elementary Education (Fredericksburg, Va.)
Merinda Morley, Ball State, Sophomore, 4.00, Pre-Physical Therapy (University City, Mo.)
2014 MAC Women's Soccer Distinguished Student-Athletes:
Leah Mattingly, Ball State, Sophomore, 3.866 GPA, Family and Consumer Sciences (Floyds Knobs, Ind.)
Cailey Starck, Ball State, Senior, 3.750 GPA, Special Education (Coto de Caza, Calif.)
Gabby Veldman, Ball State, Sophomore, 3.713 GPA, Exercise Science (South Bend, Ind.)
Victoria Jacobs, Ball State, Senior, 3.631 GPA, Psychology (Oakville, Ontario)
Elaina Musleh, Ball State, Junior, 3.384 GPA, Entrepreneurial Management (Carmel, Ind.)
Madison Oyer, Ball State, Junior, 3.209 GPA, Family and Consumer Sciences (Leo, Ind.)
2014 MAC Women's Volleyball Distinguished Student-Athletes:
Hayley Benson, Ball State, R-Junior, 3.905 GPA, Marketing (Hilliard, Ohio)
Sabrina Mangapora, Ball State, R-Freshman, 4.00 GPA, Pre-Med Preparation (Canfield, Ohio)
Jenna Spadafora, Ball State, Junior, 3.412 GPA, Journalism (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
Kati Vasalakis, Ball State, Junior, 3.819 GPA, Communication Studies (Yorktown, Ind.)
2014 MAC Football Distinguished Student-Athletes:
Jacob Richard, Ball State, Senior, 3.619 GPA, Marketing (Weston, Conn.)
Darnell Smith, Ball State, Junior, 3.371 GPA, Marketing (Indianapolis, Ind.)
- BallStateSports.com -
