Fourteen Cardinals Named MAC Distinguished Scholar Athletes

Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services

Fourteen Cardinals Named MAC Distinguished Scholar Athletes

June 27, 2017 | General

MUNCIE, Ind. – Fourteen Ball State student-athletes from the spring sports season were recently named as Mid-American Conference Distinguished Scholar Athletes, recognized as the "best of the best" from their sports' Academic All-MAC teams.

Baseball pitcher BJ Butler and men's tennis standout Lucas Andersen earned Distinguished Scholar Athlete status for the third year in a row. The baseball team accounted for five of the Cardinals' selections, while Ball State was also represented in outdoor track & field, men's tennis, softball and women's tennis.

Now in its third 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 33 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.

The 12 honorees from the winter season join a group of 17 Ball State student-athletes who received the award during the fall season. The spring honors will be announced at the conclusion of the athletic year.

2016-17 MAC Spring Sport Distinguished Scholar Athletes (Ball State)
Baseball
T.J. Baker, Ball State, P, Sophomore, 3.734 GPA, Biology (Tipton, Mich.)
*#BJ Butler, Ball State, P, Senior, 3.803 GPA, Information Systems (Mattawan, Mich.)
Matt Eppers, Ball State, OF, Senior, 3.588 GPA, Entrepreneurial Management (Bristol, Ind.)
*Sean Kennedy, Ball State, INF, Senior, 3.586 GPA, Business Administration (Dayton, Ohio)
*Caleb Stayton, Ball State, 1B, Senior, 3.927 GPA, Telecommunications (Goshen, Ind.)

Men's Tennis
Conner Andersen, Ball State, Sophomore, 3.955 GPA, Accounting (Greenwood, Ind.)
*#Lucas Andersen, Ball State, Senior, 3.821 GPA, Biology (Greenwood, Ind.)

Softball
Rachel Houck, Ball State, Senior, 3.340 GPA, Accounting (Greenfield, Ind.)

Track & Field (Outdoor)
Danielle Dahl, Ball State, Grad Student, 4.00 GPA, Executive Development Public Service (Chelsea, Mich.)
Regan Lewis, Ball State, Sophomore, 3.779 GPA, Pre-Nursing (Greenfield, Ind.)
*Gabby Sims, Ball State, Junior, 3.904 GPA, Elementary Education (Columbus, Ind.)
Peyton Stewart, Ball State, Sophomore, 3.603 GPA, Exercise Science (Indianapolis, Ind.)

Women's Tennis
Carmen Blanco, Ball State, Senior, 3.923 GPA, Accounting (Caracas, Venezuela)
*Toni Ormond, Ball State, Senior, 3.961 GPA, Teaching–Foreign Language (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)

*2015-16 Distinguished Scholar Athlete
#2014-15 Distinguished Scholar Athlete