Grantham, PA – Messiah College Athletics announced this week
Becky Ely and
Trevor Stutzman as the female and male Senior Scholar-Athlete Award winners for 2014-15. The pair were
recognized as finalists earlier this year and both stood out as deserving recipients of the Falcons' most prestigious student-athlete award.
"Congratulations to both Becky and Trevor," Messiah College Director of Athletics
Jack Cole said. "Each year we have fantastic candidates for the award, and both Becky and Trevor fit that mold. They're ambassadors for Messiah College Athletics."
Becky Ely finished her career with the Falcons with a 3.80 cumulative grade point average (GPA) and a degree in Mathematics with a Teaching Certification. A two-sport student-athlete in both field hockey and women's lacrosse, Ely's most prolific accomplishments came in the fall field hockey seasons. In 2014 she was named NFHCA First Team All-Region and First Team All-Commonwealth, and she also took home the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the sport.
In addition to a Commonwealth Rookie of the Year award in 2011, Ely was also named the the conference First Team in 2012 and 2013. Ely was a stalwart defender for the Falcons in each of her four seasons, and in 2014 she led Messiah to a miniscule 1.45 goals against average.
Ely has been a member of the MAC Honor Roll in each of her years with Messiah, and for each of the past two seasons she's earned Academic All-MAC honors as a field hockey player.*
On the men's side
Trevor Stutzman took home the Senior Scholar-Athlete honors. He finished his career with a 3.70 GPA and a degree in Nutrition & Dietetics. Stutzman is one of the most accomplished competitors in Messiah track & field history as he holds three All-American honors and seven MAC Championships as a field athlete. In his senior year Stutzman was the MAC champion in both Indoor and Outdoor shot put, and he was an All-American (5th) in the Indoor event. He also qualified for the NCAA Championships in the Outdoor shot put and finished 10th.
Stutzman was named the MAC Indoor Track & Field Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and his Indoor shot put championship mark set a new MAC record.
Prior to this year Stutzman earned All-American honors in the 2014 Indoor shot put (5th) and Outdoor shot put (8th). Stutzman also qualified for the 2014 NCAA Outdoor discus championships and finished 14th. In his junior year he was named CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-American. Like Ely, Stutzman has earned Academic All-MAC honors in the past two seasons, though he has done so for both the 2014 and 2015 Indoor and Outdoor track & field seasons.
"We could not be more proud of the accomplishments of Becky and Trevor," Cole said. "They have demonstrated academic and athletic integrity from the start of their careers to the finish, and we're thankful for the opportunity to recognize them for it."
The other finalists for the Senior Scholar-Athlete awards were Madi Brunk (women's lacrosse), Lauren Clune (women's swimming), Michael Brookhart (men's tennis), and Zac Hoy (men's basketball).
*The Academic All-MAC program was started by the conference during the 2013-14 academic year, and it seeks to recognize the top student-athletes in each sport across a combination of the Commonwealth and Freedom divisions. Unlike the conference's Academic Honor Roll, which recognizes all student-athletes with at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA, sports information directors from across all member schools vote on the Academic All-Conference Teams.
