INDIANAPOLIS – Six fall-sport student-athletes, including a pair from Lewis University, have been named the 2013-14 Great Lakes Valley Conference Fall Scholar-Athletes of the Year, it was announced by the conference office Wednesday. Lewis cross country runner Andrew McLain and soccer goalkeeper Alec Pickett join Bellarmine University cross country specialist Emily Frith, University of Indianapolis football standout Klay Fiechter, Quincy University soccer star Jaclyn Mastroianni, and Rockhurst University volleyball player Whitney Kostal as the conference’s academic honorees for the fall season.
The league selects one student-athlete in each conference sport to be designated the GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The award is based upon athletic accomplishments, both team and individual, and academic performance in the season upon which the award is based. Each conference member has the opportunity to nominate one individual from its team for the award. Nominees must have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) which meets Academic All-America standards (3.30), and freshmen and first-year transfers are not eligible for the award. The voting is completed by each member institution’s Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR).
McLain earns his second straight Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in men’s cross country after becoming the first All-American in the last seven years of the Flyers’ cross country program, following a 21st-place finish at the NCAA Championships. He earned All-Midwest Region honors with a seventh-place finish and earned All-Conference accolades for the fourth-straight season with a third-place finish at the 2013 GLVC Championships, while also helping his team to a runner-up result at the conference meet. A sports management major from Fort Wayne, Ind., McLain earned career-best marks at both the GLVC Championships (8K, 24:12) and NCAA Championships (10K, 30:59.8). He finished the fall semester with a perfect 4.0 GPA to improve his cumulative average to 3.87.
Pickett garnered an array of postseason accolades both on and off the soccer pitch last fall. The senior goalkeeper, who was named the GLVC Defensive Player of the Year, helped his Flyers to a 13-3-5 record and the NCAA Round of 16 while earning NSCAA/Continental Tire second-team and Daktronics third-team All-America accolades as well. His 0.51 goals-against-average ranked third nationally, while his .869 save percentage was sixth overall. Off the pitch, the Mokena, Ill., native was honored as an NSCAA Scholar All-America first-team selection as well as a second-team Academic All-American by CoSIDA. The physics major carried a 3.83 GPA for the semester and owns a cumulative GPA of 3.95.
Mastroianni was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year prior to earning second-team NSCAA All-America and first-team Capital One Academic All-America accolades. The St. Louis, Mo., native was also the only Midwest Region standout to earn a nod to the NSCAA Scholar All-America second-team. The Lady Hawks’ offensive leader paced the league with 33 points and 13 assists while tying for second with 10 goals on the year. Mastroianni guided Quincy (18-1-4, 12-0-3 GLVC) to its second straight GLVC Championship as well as the Midwest Regional Championship where she scored a goal and three helpers in five postseason games. The psychology major registered a 3.92 GPA during the fall semester, which improved her cumulative GPA to 3.83.
Frith turned in an impressive junior campaign where she not only scored a perfect 4.0 semester GPA, but she also captured the GLVC Championship and was named GLVC Runner of the Year while breaking the tape at the 6,000-meter conference meet in 21:12. She also made headlines in the regular season, setting the school record for 5,000 meters in 17:26, while being recognized as GLVC Runner of the Week twice and the USTFCCA National Athlete of the Week on Oct. 7, 2013. An exercise science major from Crab Orchard, Ky., Frith earned both a Presidential Scholarship and Dean’s List distinction this past fall while bringing her cumulative GPA to 3.99.
In concluding his football career at UIndy, Fiechter did so in style having garnered both the GLVC Offensive Player and Special Teams Player of the Year awards while helping the Greyhounds (10-2, 7-0 GLVC) to their second straight GLVC Championship. He broke UIndy's career records for rushing yards, all-purpose yards, rushing TDs, total TDs and total points scored as a senior and was responsible for the winning touchdown in the regular season finale over Truman State that kept the Hounds a perfect 15-0 in GLVC play over the past two years. He was one of four unanimous All-GLVC selections and a second-team All-Region pick by CoSIDA after leading the league in rushing yards (1,160), touchdowns (14), and punt return average (17.4). The Bluffton, Ind., native was also named to the Capital One Academic All-America first team for the second-straight season, becoming just the fourth multiple Academic All-America honoree in program history. He carded a 3.765 semester GPA and improved his cumulative GPA to 3.697 in the field of exercise science and pre-physical therapy. This is his second consecutive GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
Kostal, a native of Papillion, Neb., helped guide Rockhurst (26-7, 15-3 GLVC) to the GLVC Championship Tournament semifinals this past fall. She averaged 10.99 assists, 2.59 digs, 0.71 kills and 0.62 blocks per set and started all 33 matches in which she played. Her assists mark ranked second among conference setters and 22nd nationally. The first-team All-GLVC selection and AVCA All-Region honorable mention pick was a Dean’s List member on campus following a fall semester with a 3.88 GPA. The pre-physical therapy major currently holds a cumulative GPA of 3.89.
The recipients of the GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the remaining winter and spring sports will be announced in June. In all, 18 student-athletes are awarded the honor by the league annually.