
For full NEC Spring Academic Honor Roll Release click here
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (June 29, 2010) - Senior Jared Balbach (Pine Bush, NY) from the baseball team, senior Timmy Katz (Freeport, NY) from the men's lacrosse team and sophomore Leopoldo Garcia (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) from the men's golf team were named 2010 Northeast Conference (NEC) Spring Scholar-Athletes announced by the league on Tuesday. Sacred Heart placed 140 student-athletes covering 10 conference-sponsored spring sports on the NEC Academic Honor Roll. Twenty-seven SHU student-athlete earned a spot on the Comissioner's Honor Roll comprised by student-athletes who attained a 3.75 grade-point average or higher.
In order to receive consideration for the list, one must maintain at least a 3.20 grade-point average (GPA). During the course of the 2009-10 academic year, a record 2,257 student-athletes earned their way onto the Academic Honor Roll. That figure represents more than half of the league's competitors and stands as a 12.5-percent increase from one year ago. Likewise, 495 student-athletes were tabbed to the Commissioner's Honor Roll in 2009-10, an all-time high for the league and a year-to-year increase of 14.6 percent.
Only weeks after pitching Sacred Heart into the NEC Championship
Game, Balbach captures the baseball Scholar-Athlete award. The
veteran left-hander compiled a 9-3 record this season while
sporting a 3.63 earned-run average that was fourth amongst league
leaders. Balbach produced seven complete-game efforts in 14 starts
on the way to logging the third-most innings (91.2) in the
conference. Following his selection to the 2010 All-NEC First Team,
Balbach continued his winning ways in the postseason. The senior
southpaw went the distance, tossing 141 pitches, to notch an 8-3
victory over eventual-league champion Central Connecticut State at
the 2010 NEC Tournament. Pitching best during the season's stretch
run, Balbach went 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA in his last six starts.
Studying Business, Balbach accounted for a 3.77 grade-point
average.
Garcia caps another award-winning spring by claiming the men's
golf Scholar-Athlete honor.
After being named the 2009 NEC Rookie of the Year, Garcia added a
second consecutive all-NEC second team selection to his resume in
2010. He carded a three-round score of 232 to crack the Top 25 at
this year's Northeast Conference Championship. He shot a
season-best round of 70 on three separate occasions, one of which
was part of a third-place individual finish at the New England
Division I Championship. Garcia has declared a major in Biological
Sciences and maintains a 3.71 grade-point average.
It's been quite a spring for Sacred Heart's Katz, the winner of
the men's lacrosse Scholar-Athlete award. En-route to earning
all-NEC first team
honors, Katz tallied a career-high 32 goals and led the Pioneers
in scoring for a third consecutive season. He totaled 116 points
(78 G, 38 A) in 53 career games at Sacred Heart. Two different
organizations (NEILA and USILA) named the veteran attacker to their
All-Star Game. Katz tallied two goals and an assist in the USILA
North-South All-Star Game before becoming the second player in
Sacred Heart history to be selected in the Major League Lacrosse
Draft. The fifth-round choice of his hometown Long Island Lizards,
Katz was the 28th player overall selected in this year's draft. The
Business major posted a 3.28 grade-point average and was named both
a USILA Scholar All-American and a NEILA Scholar-Athlete.
All Scholar-Athlete award winners must have earned a minimum of 60 semester hours and held a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20, while participating, with distinction, as a member of a varsity team.