Academic honors
Athletics department continues to set high academic bar
Binghamton’s student-athletes continue to set all-time best marks in the classroom.
Earlier this month, the athletic department announced that its student-athletes recorded a program-best 3.25 collective grade point average during the spring 2018 semester.
This week, the America East released its Spring Academic Honor Roll, which includes 72 percent of all eligible Binghamton student-athletes. That represents the highest percentage Binghamton has recorded since it joined the conference in the fall of 2001.
The America East Spring Academic Honor Roll includes all sports from the winter and spring seasons that it sponsors. All student-athletes with a 3.0 GPA during the semester were named to the honor roll. In addition, all student-athletes with a 3.5 or above were also named to the America East Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
There were 208 Binghamton student-athletes that made the Honor Roll with 102 of them also being named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
The Binghamton women’s lacrosse team ranked first among conference programs in its sport with 91 percent of its team being named to the America East Honor Roll. The other Bearcat program to rank first in its sport was the men’s track & field team (82 percent).
In addition, Binghamton has released its Spring Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, which included student-athletes from all sports that attained a 3.3 GPA. A record 52 percent of the department’s student-athletes (218 selections) made the list.
The Binghamton Athletic Director’s Honor Roll was established in the fall of 2011.
Six women’s lacrosse players earn academic honors
Six Bearcats were named to the 2018 IWLCA Zag Sports Academic Honor Roll for maintaining a cumulative GPA over a 3.5 for the school year. As a team, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team was named to the 2018 IWLCA Zag Sports Academic Honor Squad for a 3.32 team GPA, the 10th time since 2005, including five times under head coach Stephanie Allen.
Three track & field athletes earn academic honors
Recent graduate Keishorea Armstrong as well as rising juniors Samantha Beyar and Jack Fitzgerald have each received All-Academic Honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA). In addition, both the Binghamton men’s and women’s teams earned the USTFCCCA’s team academic awards.
In order for an individual to earn USTFCCCA All-Academic honors, they must have attained at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA and have advanced to either the NCAA Indoor National Championships or the NCAA Outdoor Regional Meet. Team honors are awarded to squads with at least a 3.25 overall GPA for the entire academic year.
For Armstrong, this marks her second consecutive USTFCCCA All-Academic honor. She finished 13th in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships and was 21st in the same event at the NCAA outdoor meet.
Beyar and Fitzgerald each earned the accolade for the first time in their careers. Both of them advanced to the NCAA East Region Meet. Fitzgerald competed in the men’s high jump while Beyar took part in the women’s pole vault.
The three USTFCCCA All-Academic selections are the most that Binghamton has posted in a single season.
Since 2005, Binghamton has posted seven men’s USTFCCCA All-Academic selections and four women’s picks.
The Bearcat men’s and women’s teams, meanwhile, were recognized for the fourth consecutive season. For the 2017-18 academic year, the men’s squad posted a 3.28 overall GPA while the women turned in a collective GPA of 3.42.
Since 2005, the men’s team has been honored seven times. The women’s team, meanwhile, has been recognized seven times.
Men’s tennis team wins academic honor
Binghamton men’s tennis team was honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) when the association announced its academic honors on Tuesday. The Bearcats, coached by Nick Zieziula, put four players on the Scholar-Athlete Team and easily met the criteria to be an All-Academic Team. It’s the 10th consecutive year the program has achieved academic distinction.
Earning individual accolades were Ludovico Cestarollo, Valentin Bouchet, Inigo Saez and Kushaan Nath.
As a team, the Bearcats had a 3.33 team GPA.
The ITA All-Academic Team award is awarded to teams that produce a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above. All varsity letter winners were factored into the cumulative team GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2017 and spring 2018). In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must have a grade point average of at least 3.50.
Women’s tennis team wins academic honor
Binghamton women’s tennis team was honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) when the association announced its academic honors on Tuesday. The Bearcats, coached by Libby McGovern, put seven players on the Scholar-Athlete Team and easily met the criteria to be an All-Academic Team. Only 11 other programs across the country (among 318 Division I) had more players honored than Binghamton.
Earning individual accolades were Tiffany Dun, Michelle Eisenberg, Samara Eisenberg, Maya Haykal, Olga Ostrovetsky, Maria Pandya and Allison Roma.
As a team, the Bearcats had a 3.66 team GPA.
The ITA All-Academic Team award is awarded to teams that produce a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above. All varsity letter winners were factored into the cumulative team GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2017 and spring 2018). In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must have a grade point average of at least 3.50.
Men’s basketball wins academic honor
Binghamton men’s basketball earned a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Team Academic Excellence Award for the 2017-18 year. The Bearcats, under head coach Tommy Dempsey, were one of just two America East schools to achieve the honor, which requires a minimum 3.0 team grade-point average for the school year. The award is in its sixth year and it’s the first time Binghamton has reached the plateau.
Dempsey’s full roster locked down a program-best 3.27 GPA in the fall semester with 11 players reaching above a 3.0 and eight soaring to a 3.3 or higher GPA. The 3.27 semester GPA was higher than BU’s all-sports average (3.21) in the fall.
The Bearcats were one of just 45 Division I men’s programs to reach the elite mark among the 351 across the country. Stony Brook was the other conference school honored.
Golfer named to academic team
Sophomore Ryan Rodriguez has been named to the Big Sky Conference All-Academic Team. It marks the first time in his career that he has earned the accolade.
To be eligible for the Big Sky All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must have participated in at least half of the team’s competitions, achieved a 3.2 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at the conclusion of the most recently completed term and completed at least one academic term at their current Big Sky institution.
Rodriguez transferred to Binghamton from St. Peter’s in the fall of 2017. He was named the Big Sky Golfer of the Week on Oct. 3 and ended the year by tying for 12th place at the conference championship event.
For the season, Rodriguez ranked second on the team in scoring average (75.63) and was the Bearcats’ top finisher in two tournaments.