Ball State University Athletics
Field Hockey's Carley Shannon and Soccer's Alyssa Heintschel
Eight Cardinals Named MAC Distinguished Scholar Athletes
December 21, 2017 | General
MUNCIE, Ind. – Eight Ball State student-athletes from the fall sports season were named Mid-American Conference Distinguished Scholar Athletes, recognized as the "best of the best" from their sports' Academic All-MAC teams.
Field hockey midfielder Carley Shannon and soccer goalkeeper Alyssa Heintschel earned Distinguished Scholar Athlete status for the third year in a row. Shannon tallied two game-winning goals for the Cardinals this past fall and was also a second team All-MAC honoree. Heintschel, who was also recently named a CoSIDA first team Academic All-American, capped her career this fall as the winningest keeper in school history with 35 victories.
The women's volleyball team accounted for three of the Cardinals' selections, while field hockey, football and soccer were represented as well.
Now in its fourth year, the Distinguished Scholar Athlete award honors those who have excelled in athletics and academics. Students with a GPA of at least 3.20 who participated in at least 50 percent of their teams' contests were named to the previously announced Academic All-MAC teams. Those honorees were then eligible for consideration by the league's faculty athletics representatives for the Distinguished Scholar Athlete award.
The number of selections for each sport is equivalent to the size of the all-conference first team in that sport, or 20 percent of the nominees, whichever is greater. First-year students and junior college and graduate school transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible.
2017 MAC Fall Sport Distinguished Scholar Athletes (Ball State)
Field Hockey
#Anya Eicher, Ball State, Junior, 3.90 GPA, Business Administration (Boort, Victoria, Australia)
#^Carley Shannon, Ball State, Senior, 3.990 GPA, Exercise Science (Williamsburg, Va.)
Football
Vinnie Palazeti, Ball State, Senior, 3.630 GPA, Professional Selling (Owosso, Mich.)
Soccer
#^Alyssa Heintschel, Ball State, Senior, 4.00 GPA, Chemistry, Pre-Med (Oregon, Ohio)
Yela Ziswiler, Ball State, Sophomore, 4.00 GPA, Economics (Spiez, Switzerland)
Women's Volleyball
Kate Avila, Ball State, Sophomore, 4.00 GPA, Speech Language Pathology (Yorktown, Ind.)
#Emily Holland, Ball State, Junior, 3.916 GPA, Telecommunications (Madison, Ind.)
Amber Seaman, Ball State, Sophomore, 3.976 GPA, Psychological Sciences (Carmel, Ind.)
#2016 Distinguished Scholar Athlete
^2015 Distinguished Scholar Athlete
Field hockey midfielder Carley Shannon and soccer goalkeeper Alyssa Heintschel earned Distinguished Scholar Athlete status for the third year in a row. Shannon tallied two game-winning goals for the Cardinals this past fall and was also a second team All-MAC honoree. Heintschel, who was also recently named a CoSIDA first team Academic All-American, capped her career this fall as the winningest keeper in school history with 35 victories.
The women's volleyball team accounted for three of the Cardinals' selections, while field hockey, football and soccer were represented as well.
Now in its fourth year, the Distinguished Scholar Athlete award honors those who have excelled in athletics and academics. Students with a GPA of at least 3.20 who participated in at least 50 percent of their teams' contests were named to the previously announced Academic All-MAC teams. Those honorees were then eligible for consideration by the league's faculty athletics representatives for the Distinguished Scholar Athlete award.
The number of selections for each sport is equivalent to the size of the all-conference first team in that sport, or 20 percent of the nominees, whichever is greater. First-year students and junior college and graduate school transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible.
2017 MAC Fall Sport Distinguished Scholar Athletes (Ball State)
Field Hockey
#Anya Eicher, Ball State, Junior, 3.90 GPA, Business Administration (Boort, Victoria, Australia)
#^Carley Shannon, Ball State, Senior, 3.990 GPA, Exercise Science (Williamsburg, Va.)
Football
Vinnie Palazeti, Ball State, Senior, 3.630 GPA, Professional Selling (Owosso, Mich.)
Soccer
#^Alyssa Heintschel, Ball State, Senior, 4.00 GPA, Chemistry, Pre-Med (Oregon, Ohio)
Yela Ziswiler, Ball State, Sophomore, 4.00 GPA, Economics (Spiez, Switzerland)
Women's Volleyball
Kate Avila, Ball State, Sophomore, 4.00 GPA, Speech Language Pathology (Yorktown, Ind.)
#Emily Holland, Ball State, Junior, 3.916 GPA, Telecommunications (Madison, Ind.)
Amber Seaman, Ball State, Sophomore, 3.976 GPA, Psychological Sciences (Carmel, Ind.)
#2016 Distinguished Scholar Athlete
^2015 Distinguished Scholar Athlete
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
MF
/ Field Hockey
GK
/ Soccer
MH
/ Women's Volleyball
OL
/ Football
S
/ Women's Volleyball
MF
/ Field Hockey
D
/ SoccerWednesday, June 17
Monday, June 15
Wednesday, May 27
Tuesday, May 12