CAA Names Spring Scholar-Athlete Award Winners
Rob Washburn
RICHMOND, Va. (June 19, 2017) – Eleven student-athletes from six different schools who excelled both athletically and academically have been honored by the Colonial Athletic Association as recipients of the CAA Scholar-Athlete Award for the spring sports season.
The conference honors one Scholar-Athlete in each of its 21 championship sports. Nominees for the award must be a starter or important reserve on their team and must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25. The winners were selected by a vote of the media relations directors at each CAA institution.
Nine of the 11 recipients earned All-CAA honors in their respective sports this season and 10 have achieved cumulative grade point averages over 3.7.
Earning Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors were William & Mary senior
Ryder Miconi in baseball, UNCW junior
Thomas Eldridge in men’s golf, College of Charleston senior
Laura Fuenfstueck in women’s golf, Fairfield senior
Jake Knostman in men’s lacrosse, Elon junior
Stephanie Asher in women’s lacrosse, Northeastern senior
Margaret Walsh in rowing, UNCW senior
Lauren Moore in softball, William & Mary junior
Christian Cargill in men’s tennis, Elon junior
Erica Braschi in women’s tennis, William & Mary junior
Tucker Rizzi in men’s track and field, and William & Mary junior
Regan Rome in women’s track and field.
Here is a brief biographical sketch on the award winners:
Ryder Miconi, Sr., Guilford, Conn./Guilford – William & Mary (baseball)
A senior majoring in finance, Miconi receives the CAA Scholar-Athlete Award for the second year in a row. He is a four-time recipient of W&M’s Provost Award and the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award, and has been chosen to the CAA All-Academic team for baseball for the past two seasons. On the field, Miconi was selected to the All-CAA third team in 2017 after batting .318 and leading the Tribe with nine homers and 45 RBI’s. He added 14 doubles and topped W&M with a .531 slugging percentage. Miconi made the All-CAA second team in 2016 and was named to the Charlottesville All-Regional team during last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Thomas Eldridge, Jr., Raleigh, N.C./Millbrook – UNCW (men’s golf)
A junior majoring in finance, Eldridge has been selected to the CAA men’s golf All-Academic team for the past two seasons. He is also a three-time recipient of the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award. On the course, Eldridge received his second individual berth to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship in 2017. The junior was chosen to the All-CAA first team for the second straight year after earning second-team honors in 2015. This season, Eldridge had an impressive 72.64 stroke average and was the medalist at the Tiger Invitational hosted by Auburn.
Laura Fuenfstueck, Sr., Langen, Germany/GC Neuhof – College of Charleston (women’s golf)
A senior majoring in finance, Fuenfstueck earns the CAA Scholar-Athlete Award for the second time in three years. A summa cum laude graduate of CofC, she was chosen to the CoSIDA Academic At-Large All-District team in 2017. She made the CofC Director of Athletics Honor Roll in all eight semesters. On the course, Fuenfstueck was honored as the CAA Women’s Golfer of the Year for the third time in 2017, becoming only the second player in conference history to achieve that feat. A four-time, first-team All-CAA honoree, she competed in the NCAA Women’s Golf Regionals during all four seasons with the Cougars and this year become the first CofC golfer, and just the second in CAA history, to advance to the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship as an individual. Fuenfstueck set a school record with five career wins.
Jake Knostman, Sr., Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge – Fairfield (men’s lacrosse)
A senior double majoring in information systems and economics, Knostman was recognized as a USILA Scholar All-American in 2017. A two-time member of the CAA men’s lacrosse All-Academic team, he was one of 20 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award this year. Knostman is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma and Omicron Delta Epsilon honor societies and has made the Dean’s List in every semester. On the field, Knostman contributed nine goals and three assists from the midfield this season and finished his career with 54 goals and 15 assists. His 62 career games played were one shy of the Fairfield program record.
Stephanie Asher, Jr., Glenelg, Md./Glenelg – Elon (women’s lacrosse)
A junior majoring in exercise science with a minor in psychology, Asher has made the President’s List at Elon three times and has been on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in all six semesters. She is a three-time recipient of the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award. On the field, Asher earned first-team All-CAA accolades for the second year in a row after scoring a league-high 58 goals and adding 11 assists. She set new Elon records for goals and points (69) in a season. The junior received honorable mention All-America honors from
Inside Lacrosse, made the CAA All-Tournament team and was on the Watch List for the Tewaaraton Trophy.
Margaret Walsh, Sr., Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull – Northeastern (rowing)
A senior double majoring in management and social enterprise, Walsh receives the CAA Scholar-Athlete Award for the second consecutive year. She has been honored as a CRCA National Scholar Athlete for the past three years. A member of the Honors Program, Walsh was named to Northeastern’s prestigious Huntington 100 list for her community service and leadership. On the water, Walsh has received CRCA All-Region honors for the past three years and was a member of the first varsity boat that placed 17
th at the NCAA Championships. The two-year team captain has been part a Huskies’ squad that has captured four straight CAA championships.
Lauren Moore, Sr., Farmville, N.C./The Oakwood School – UNCW (softball)
A senior majoring in biology with a minor in neuroscience, Moore was selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-America third team in 2017. A two-time honoree on the CAA All-Academic team for softball and a nominee for the Senior CLASS Award, she became the first Seahawks’ softball player to receive the UNCW Chancellor’s Cup. Moore is a member of four different honor societies. On the field, Moore was chosen to the All-CAA second team this season after batting .317 with 22 RBI’s, 30 runs scored and 12 stolen bases. She helped lead the Seahawks to a school-record 35 victories and they made their first appearance in the CAA Championship since 2007.
Christian Cargill, Jr., Cleveland, Ohio/Saddlebrook Prep (Fla.) – William & Mary (men’s tennis)
A junior majoring in finance, Cargill earns the CAA Scholar-Athlete Award in men’s tennis for the second consecutive year. He has received the William & Mary Provost’s Award for the past two years, is a three-time CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award recipient and was named an ITA Scholar-Athlete in 2015. On the court, Cargill was selected to the All-CAA first team in doubles and the All-CAA second team in singles in 2017. He is a two-time first-team all-conference honoree in singles and was a second-team all-conference pick in doubles a year ago. Cargill was the CAA men’s tennis Rookie of the Year in 2015.
Erica Braschi, Jr., Dorado, Puerto Rico/TASIS Dorado – Elon (women’s tennis)
A junior majoring in biochemistry with a minor in psychology, Braschi is a two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete and has made the President’s List at Elon five times. She is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Lambda Upsilon national honor societies and received the Eugene Gooch Memorial Organic Chemistry Achievement Award. On the court, Braschi was a second-team All-CAA selection in both singles and doubles in 2017. She posted a 15-9 record at the No. 1 singles spot and was a team-best 16-6 at No. 2 doubles with partner Olivia Lucas. Braschi earned the 2016-17 ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award for the Carolina Region.
Tucker Rizzi, Redshirt Junior, Westport, Conn./Staples – William & Mary (men’s track & field)
A redshirt junior majoring in finance, Rizzi was selected to the USTFCCCA All-Academic team in 2017. He is a three-time recipient of the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award. Rizzi was the only male athlete from the CAA to qualify for the 2017 NCAA Track & Field Championships, where he placed 24
th overall in the javelin and earned honorable mention All-America honors. Rizzi was the runner-up in the javelin at the CAA Championship and was the Penn Relays college section javelin champion with a lifetime-best throw of 68.25m (223-11). He was the CAA champion in the javelin in 2014, but battled injuries over the next two years.
Regan Rome, Jr., Dallas, Pa./Dallas – William & Mary (women’s track & field)
A junior majoring in mathematics, Rome receives her second straight CAA Scholar-Athlete Award in track and field. She has been a member of the USTFCCCA All-Academic team in all six semesters and is a three-time recipient of W&M’s Provost’s Award. Rome was chosen for the Martha Barksdale Award, which was given to W&M’s top female student-athlete in the class of 2018 across all sports. On the track, Rome became the first W&M athlete since 1982 to qualify for the NCAA Track & Field Championships in multiple events. She earned first-team All-America honors after a sixth-place finish in the 10,000 meters and was an honorable mention All-American in the 5,000 meters after finishing 21
st. Rome, who was the 2017 CAA and ECAC champion in 5,000 meters, is the first athlete in W&M history to earn track & field All-America accolades in three different events in her career.