INDIANAPOLIS – Drury University senior swimming standout Sean Feher and Rockhurst University senior two-sport star Taylor Skala have earned the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award as the league’s male and female athlete of the year, the conference office announced Thursday.
The awards are bestowed annually by the GLVC to one male and one female student-athlete that display academic excellence, athletic ability and achievement, character and leadership. It is named in honor of former GLVC Commissioner and coach and director of athletics at Saint Joseph's College.
Feher and Skala will be recognized Tuesday, May 19, at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car GLVC Awards Banquet at the Drury Plaza Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri.
Feher is the third Drury standout to ever be recognized as the conference’s top male student-athlete and the second in as many years, joining Jaime Villa Zapatero following the 2010-11 season and Nick Thimesch after the 2013-14 year. Having just helped his Panthers to their second-straight GLVC Championship in February and a runners-up finish at the NCAA Tournament, Feher penned the final chapters of his storied career at Drury. He is a 16-time NCAA All-American, four times in the freestyle during 2011-12 and five times in 2013-14 as well as seven times in 2014-15 in both freestyle and backstroke. He has been a member of three NCAA Division II National Championship teams (2011-14), one NCAA runner-up team (2014-15) and two GLVC Championship teams (2013-14 and 2014-15).
Individually, Feher has placed 20th or better in all but two NCAA DII National Meets with 12 top-10 finishes and placing in the top 15 on four occasions, including twice winning (200 free relay, 2013-14 and 400 free relay, 2014-15) and twice finishing as runner-up (800 free relay, 2011-12 and 2014-15). During the league’s first two GLVC Swimming and Diving Championships ever in league history, he won the 200 backstroke (2013-14), 50 freestyle (2014-15) and 400 freestyle relay (2014-15). He was also second in the 100 back during the 2013-14 Championships as well as in the 800 free relay at the 2014-15 Championships.
In addition, the Des Peres, Missouri, native will graduate as the school’s record holder in the 100 Back (47.04) and as a member of the 200 Medley Relay team (1:27.09) as well as Breech Pool records in the 100 Back (48.09) and on the 200 Free Relay team (1:21.19).
In the classroom, Feher owns a 3.70 cumulative grade point average (GPA) in biology and chemistry while a three-time Dean’s List honoree and a two-time Academic All-GLVC selection. At Drury he has been inducted into multiple honor societies, including the American Chemical Society, Mortar Board National Honors Society, Alpha Lambda Delta Freshman Honors Society, and Beta Beta Beta Biology Honors Society. Furthermore, he has served in leadership roles for those societies, including as secretary for Lambda Delta and Tri Beta while Membership Chair for Mortar Board. Feher was also a resident assistant and the men’s swimming and diving representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). In the Springfield, Missouri, community he has volunteered with various organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, Champion Athletes of the Ozarks, Cox Hospitals and Springfield Discovery Center. This summer Feher was chosen to initiate a collaborative research agreement with physicians in Cox Health Systems. The work will be performed at Drury and in the Jordan Valley Innovation Center.
Skala becomes the first ever Rockhurst female student-athlete to be honored with the Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award and is only the second Hawk ever selected, joining male student-athlete Garrett Fischer who was chosen in 2007-08.
The coveted honor comes at the conclusion of the talented senior’s career as the two-sport student-athlete earned numerous honors and broke records during her four years as a Hawk. On the soccer pitch she led the team in each of her four seasons for most goals and points. As a rookie, she earned the highest league honor of being named GLVC Freshman of the Year in 2011, while three seasons later she was voted the GLVC Offensive Player of the Year as a senior to bookend her phenomenal career. Both of those accolades are the first of their kind for any Rockhurst women’s soccer player. Even more impressive was her selection as the Daktronics, Inc. Midwest Region Player of the Year and receiving All-America Third Team honors from Daktronics, Inc. and the NSCAA, following the conclusion of the fall season. She was named to the All-GLVC team all four years, garnering First Team laurels three times and once on the Second Team. She was thrice named to the Daktronics, Inc. All-Midwest Region Team and twice to the NSCAA All-Midwest Region Team. In addition to each of those honors, Skala set Rockhurst records for career goals (48) and points (108). She also helped lead the squad to four-straight appearances in the GLVC Women’s Soccer Championship Tournament, twice advancing to the semifinals and three times earning a berth to the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Regional.
On the basketball court, Skala was a model of consistency and improvement throughout the years, coming off the bench as a freshman and moving into a starting role before eventually being named a team captain as a senior. Skala was named to the All-Defensive Team three times and helped guide Rockhurst to the GLVC Basketball Championship Tournament in her junior year. She also tallied more than 40 steals, 50 rebounds, 20 assists and 80 points in every season, including season-highs of 63 steals (2011-12 and 2012-13), 54 rebounds (2011-12), 44 assists (2013-14), and 136 points (2013-14) while scoring a career-high 21 points against McKendree this past season.
The same level of success has been achieved in the classroom as Skala was an eight-time Dean’s List honoree, a Chancellor’s Academic Scholarship and Loyola Scholarship recipient, a member of the Rockhurst Honors Program while graduating with Honors and concludes her career as a six-time Academic All-Conference honoree to go along with a number of other prestigious academic honors.
In 2012, Skala was the GLVC Fall Scholar-Athlete of the Year in women’s soccer and also named a women’s soccer Capital One Academic All-District and Academic All-American First Team member. In 2014, she was again named to the Capital One Academic All-District and All-America First Team in women’s soccer while garnering NSCAA Scholar All-American Third Team accolades. Much like Feher, Skala was involved in numerous honor societies, including Tri Beta Biological Honor Society, Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society, Chi Alpha Sigma Athletic Honor Society, and the Psi Chi Psychological Honor Society.
Skala holds a 3.87 cumulative GPA in Cell and Molecular Biology, yet has still found time to balance her schedule as a successful student-athlete, a team captain, and a leading representative of the school off the field and court. She was the women’s soccer representative for SAAC, serving one year as the Vice President of Marketing. The same year, she served as the Vice President for Chi Alpha Sigma as well, and she chaired the Relay for Life fundraising committee while a team captain, too. Her involvement in those activities and honors societies as well as with the Pre-Med Club and campus ministries helped her tally over 210 hours of service for the Kansas City, Missouri, community during her time as a Hawk.