48 Rams Named to Fall 2015 MASCAC All-Academic Team

Westfield, Mass. — A total of 674 student-athletes, including 48 from Framingham State University, have been honored by the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) with selection to the league’s Fall 2015 All-Academic Team as announced earlier today by MASCAC Commissioner Angela Baumann.

Women’s soccer leads the way with 11 student-athletes honored, while football and women’s cross country follow with 10 apiece.  Men’s cross country landed five on the All-Academic squad and field hockey, men’s soccer and volleyball were right behind with four honorees each. 

“I want to congratulate all the MASCAC student-athletes on another solid showing on the fall MASCAC All-Academic Team,” Commission Baumann said.  “The success of our student-athletes shows the importance of not only athletics but academics which is the cornerstone of the MASCAC and the Division III philosophy.”

Members of the women’s soccer team who were recognized on the All-Academic team include seniors Jenny Johnson (Communication Arts), Sara Sullivan (Elementary Education) and Brini Varetimos (Criminology), juniors Olivia Buonopane (Psychology), Michaela Hyland (Elementary Education), Ashley Lees (Psychology) and Angela Pallotta (Liberal Studies), and freshmen Hannah Kane (Psychology), Carlie Scacca (Undeclared), Jennifer Stevens (Undeclared) and Melissa Sybertz (Food & Nutrition).

Honorees from the 2015 MASCAC Championship football squad include seniors Joe Grigg (Psychology), Matt Silva (Criminology) and Sean Wlasuk (Criminology), juniors Chris Dagg (Management), Colby Frodel (Business Administration) and Bob Sivret (Criminology), sophomores Tom Burns (Mathematics) and Cody Wlasuk (Business Administration), and freshmen Jake Pond (Management) and Nolan Rogers (Business IT).

Members women’s cross country squad honored are seniors Jenna Anan (Food & Nutrition), Fiona Coughlan (Geography), Emma Hazen (Biology), Rachel Holland (Environmental Science) and Morgan Zabinski (Food & Nutrition), juniors Kayleigh Laughlin (Psychology) and Courtney Torres (Food & Nutrition), sophomore Hannah Rogers (Food & Nutrition), and freshmen Gina Carbone (Undeclared) and Rebecca Drown (Food & Nutrition).

Members of the 2015 men’s cross country squad included on the All-Academic team juniors Adam Meltzer (Sociology), Daniel Stevens (Sociology) and Richard Wertz (Business Administration), sophomore Doug Perkins (Biology) and freshman John Nephew (History).

Junior Alycia Rackliffe (Food & Nutrition), sophomores Victoria Anderson (Elementary Education) and Jocelyn Wilbur (Undeclared) and freshman Lauren Salisbury (Food & Nutrition) were honored from the 2015 MASCAC Champions volleyball team.

Honorees from the men’s soccer team include sophomores Michael Bean (Accounting) and Andy Segura (Management) and freshmen Ryan Buchanan (Computer Science) and Cameron Shaut (Management), while senior Samantha Pajer (Fashion Design), sophomore Amie Souza (Psychology) and freshmen Sydney Buono (Communication Arts) and Keslee DiIorio (Early Childhood Education) were honored from the field hockey team.

Student-athletes that compete in championship varsity sports offered by each of the MASCAC institutions during the course of the Fall 2015 athletic season and have achieved a 3.20 cumulative or semester-based grade point average during the semester are eligible for selection to the Fall All-Academic Team.

The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, the nation’s oldest Division III men’s and women’s playing conference, has a rich and storied tradition of competitive success while celebrating excellence in the classroom.  MASCAC member schools include Bridgewater State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, MCLA, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Salem State University, Westfield State University and Worcester State University.  Two other institutions, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Plymouth State University, are affiliate members of the conference in the sports of men’s ice hockey and football, while Western Connecticut State University joined the conference as an affiliate member in football beginning in 2013.