Five Stony Brook University student-athletes have been named winners of the 2013 SUNY Chancellor’s Scholar-Athlete Award: Tommy Brenton, men’s basketball; Shayla Giosia, softball; Brandon McNitt, baseball team; Sa’sha Kershaw, women’s soccer; and Eric Speakman, men’s cross country.
The SUNY Chancellor’s Award Scholar-Athlete Award recognizes a combination of academic excellence and outstanding achievement at the Division I, Division III and NJCAA levels. Scholar athletes are selected by SUNY System Administration in consultation with the campus athletic directors at each level of play. In honor of the accomplishment, each award recipient will receive a congratulatory letter and a plaque from SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher.
“These outstanding students are SUNY champions not only in their chosen sports but also in our classrooms, with an average GPA of 3.59 among them,” said Chancellor Zimpher. “Congratulations to this year’s honorees, to the professors and coaches who mentored them, and to the many faculty and staff on our campuses across the state who supported them.”
Brenton is coming off one of the greatest seasons ever by a Stony Brook basketball player. Named the Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year and the America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, Brenton led the Seawolves in rebounds, assists and steals. He was the backbone of a Seawolves defense that finished sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.378) and finished his career as the all-time leader in school history in rebounds and steals
and the program’s Division I leader in assists. He earned his bachelor’s degree last May in history and sociology and recently completed his Master’s of Professional Development in Coaching.Giosia leads her team in hits (52) and RBI (27) this season while hitting a robust .323. She has four home runs and 10 doubles and sports a .460 slugging percentage. Last season she led Stony Brook in home runs (8), RBI (44), runs scored (36), doubles (13) and slugging (.552) and earned second-team All-America East and All-Rookie team honors. She is majoring in health sciences.
McNitt is one of the star pitchers for the Seawolves, boasting a 4.01 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 74 innings pitched with two complete games. In his career he is a two-time All-America East selection and was named the America East Rookie of the Year in 2011. He also has been an All-Academic team selection and was first-team Capital One/CoSIDA All-Academic in 2012. He is majoring in biochemistry on the pre-med track.
Kershaw finished her career with an outstanding senior season that saw her earn All-America East first team and NSCAA All-Northeast Region second team honors. She started every game this season and had six goals and three assists for 15 points while also playing outstanding defense in the midfield. She was named the America East Championship Most Outstanding Player after leading the Seawolves to three straight tournament road wins and the program’s first-ever conference championship. She is majoring in sociology.
Speakman was the 2012 America East Men’s Cross Country individual champion after winning the championship race with a time of 25:11.43. His performance led the
Seawolves to their first-ever team conference championship. He was an All-America East and All-Northeast Region and finished in the top 25 at the NCAA Regional Championship. Speakman is a two-time America East Scholar-Athlete and is double majoring in business management and economics.
Add comment