Complete Release
Commissioner's Honor Roll
Academic Honor Roll
BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- An elite group of student-athletes were honored today by the Northeast Conference (NEC) as 2019 Spring Scholar-Athlete award winners. LIU Brooklyn led the league, with three student-athletes earning the top honors in their respective sports, as junior Patricia Griffin, senior Eugenie Hue and junior Ana Leonte were named the Spring Scholar-Athletes of the Year in softball, women's outdoor track & field and women's tennis. Additionally, 79 LIU spring student athletes earned NEC Academic Honor Roll, and 29 athletes were named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll.
Hue also earned Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award for the second season in a row, as the league's honoree for indoor track & field as well. Griffin and Leonte earned the honors for the first time in their career. Leonte is the second-straight Blackbird to win the award for women's tennis, as teammate Malin Leysen earned the award last year.
LIU Brooklyn led the way with three student-athletes earning accolades, followed by two apiece for Fairleigh Dickinson and Wagner, and one each for Bryant, Mount St. Mary's, Robert Morris and Sacred Heart.
All scholar-athlete award winners have compiled a minimum of 60 semester hours at their institution, maintained a minimum cumulative grade-point-average of 3.20 and participated with distinction as a member of a varsity team.
Along with the scholar-athletes, the NEC also announced its Spring Academic Honor Roll, consisting of 1,002 student-athletes with a 3.20 or better grade-point average. There were also 283 student-athletes named to the spring Commissioner's Honor Roll, recognizing those superior student-athletes with a 3.75 or better grade point average.
Over the course of the 2018-19 academic year, a league record 2,427 NEC student-athletes landed a spot on the Academic Honor Roll. That figure also represents over 60 percent of the NEC's competitors. Likewise, a record 761 student-athletes were named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll, a 5.7 percent jump from 2017-18.
LIU Brooklyn redshirt junior outfielder Patricia Griffin (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) was the co-recipient of the softball scholar-athlete award. Griffin earned a slew of year-end honors for the NEC regular season champs and NEC Tournament runner-up Blackbirds. A catalyst from the leadoff spot, she was named first team All-NEC, second team NFCA All-Region and second team All-ECAC after ranking in the conference top-10 in hitting (.353, ninth), hits (65, fourth), runs scored (37, seventh) and doubles (13, seventh). She had previously earned second team All-Conference honors in 2018. Griffin, who hails from Marlton, NJ, also led LIU with eight stolen bases, recorded seven three-hit games and did not commit an error while recording five outfield assists. Griffin has been recognized on the NEC Academic & Commissioner's Honor Roll in each of her four years. She is a Middle Childhood Education major and has compiled a near-perfect 3.99 grade point average.
LIU Brooklyn junior Ana Leonte (Basel, Switzerland/Gymnasium Kirschgarten) was the winner of the women's tennis scholar-athlete of the year award. Leonte served as a catalyst on a Blackbird squad that won its third straight NEC title this past April. She was voted to the All-NEC doubles first team for the third straight year along with partner Anna Grigoryan, and also made her first All-NEC singles appearance with her selection to the second team. Leonte posted the highest singles win percentage in the conference this past season (.846), winning 11 of her 13 matches at the #5 and #6 flights. She picked up a straight set win in LIU's title-clinching match against FDU to earn a spot on the All-Tournament team and cap a perfect 4-0 season against NEC competitors. Her pairing with Grigoryan yielded a 14-8 record on the year, including an 8-0 conference slate. Leonte, who calls Basel, Switzerland home, was tabbed to the NEC Academic & Commissioner's Honor Roll in each of her three years in Brooklyn. She is a Psychology major who has compiled a 3.92 grade point average.
LIU Brooklyn senior Eugenie Hue (Cherbourg, France/Cherbourg (Essex CC)) added women's outdoor track and field scholar-athlete honors to her indoor award from the winter. Hue captured the NEC title in the 800 meters at the conference championship meet in May. She set a new meet record in her heat with a time of 2:10.10, then cruised to the title with a 2:11.82 effort that put her nearly two seconds ahead of the field. Hue also ran the second leg on LIU's runner-up squad in the 4x400 meter relay. Hue, who hails from Cherbourg, France, has earned a spot on the NEC Academic and Commissioner's Honor Roll lists in all three of her years at LIU. The Sports Science major posted a 3.95 cumulative grade point average.
LIU had 29 athletes named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll, led by the NEC regular season championship-winning softball team, who had nine athletes recognized: Kristen Blanchard, Emily Collins, Kelsey Day, Amanda Domingo, Zoe Estoppey, Patricia Griffin, Katie Hinkle, Haley Irvis and Angelina Reno. Women's lacrosse was next, with five honorees (Rachel Masullo, Isabelle Peng, Elise Person, Adriana Santucci and Bianca Santucci), while the NEC championship-winning women's tennis team had four: Alexandra Bollweg, Jennifer Gogova, Ana Leonte and Malin Leysen. Both men's track and men's golf had three honorees each: Beresford Sweeney, Braylon Wilkerson and Caleb Williams, and Jayden Brown, George Helsby and Manuel Sosa, while baseball and women's track and field had two each (Frank Cerillo and Edward Modica Jr., and Stephanie Esogenwune and Eugenie Hue), and women's golf had Rebeca Pardos honored.
The Blackbirds had 79 athletes represented on the Academic Honor Roll. Baseball led the way, with 24 honorees, followed by softball (14), women's lacrosse (11), men's outdoor track & field (9), women's outdoor track & field (7), women's tennis (6 of 7), men's golf (5 of 5) and women's golf (3).
Overall this academic year, LIU had 197 athletes earned academic honors from the Northeast Conference.