48 Rams Named to Fall 2013 MASCAC All-Academic Team

Westfield, Mass. — A total of 634 student-athletes, including 48 from Framingham State University, have been honored by the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference with selection to the league’s Fall 2013 All-Academic Team as announced earlier today by MASCAC Commissioner Angela Baumann.

Field hockey and women’s soccer lead the way with 11 and 10 student-athletes honored respectively, while football landed nine on the All-Academic squad.  Women’s cross country placed six and volleyball and men’s soccer each landed five, while two runners from the men’s cross country squad were honored on the 2013 MASCAC Fall All-Academic team.

Honorees from the field hockey team include seniors Brittany Goben (Biology) and Kaitlyn Ranieri (Psychology), juniors Casey Taylor (Psychology), Rhea Urbaniak (Environmental Science) and Hannah Wilkins (Psychology), sophomore Samantha Pajer (Fashion Design) and freshmen Kaylee Brazell (Food & Nutrition), Cydnie Guerra (English), Amy Hanas (Criminology), Lynne Sirchia (Fashion Merchandising) and Tori Winton (Food & Nutrition).

Honorees from the 2013 MASCAC Regular Season Champion women’s soccer team include seniors Kayla Austin (Criminology), Mary Brinkmann (Elementary Education) and Taylor Ezold (Business Administration), juniors Emily Biegner (Food & Nutrition) and Marisa Parent (Elementary Education), sophomores Jenny Johnson (Communication Arts), Sara Sullivan (Elementary Education) and Brini Varetimos (Criminology), and freshmen Olivia Buonopane (Psychology) and Tess Gorman (Corporate Communications).

Members of the 2013 MASCAC Champion football squad honored are seniors Brian Castellanos (Criminology), Aaron Ferreira (Business Administration) and Pat Lamusta (Business Administration), junior Brian Montambault (Psychology), sophomores George Ocnos (History), Hunter Oppedisano (Food & Nutrition) and Matthew Quattrucci (Criminology), and freshmen Matthew Dabenigno (Criminology) and Mike Lavin (Criminology).

Sophomores Jenna Anan (Food & Nutrition), Fiona Coughlan (Geography), and Emma Hazen (Biology) and freshmen Kayleigh Laughlin (Psychology), Jillian Preman (Food Science) and Courtney Torres (Food & Nutrition) were honored from the women’s cross country team, while senior Chris Baza (Economics) and freshman Adam Meltzer (Biology) were honored from the men’s cross country squad.

Members of the 2013 men’s soccer squad included on the All-Academic team are juniors Nicholas Cotter (International Business), Henrique DaSilva (Business Administration) and William Levitsky (Sociology), and freshmen Cameron Menter (Business Administration) and Akram Ndamba (Undeclared).

Seniors Andressa Fernandes (Economics) and Taryn McCarthy (Fashion Design), sophomores Annie DeLoid (Mathematics) and Danielle Girard (Business Administration) and freshman Alycia Rackliffe (Food & Nutrition were honored from the volleyball team.

Student-athletes that compete in championship varsity sports offered by each of the MASCAC institutions during the course of the Fall 2013 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 2013-14.