Robert Morris senior defender Mary Kate Egan (Lynch, MD/Kent County) is this year’s women’s lacrosse Scholar-Athlete. Following her selection to the All-NEC second team in 2008, Egan was voted to the first team this past season after she helped guide the Colonials to their first winning campaign (9-8) and best-ever NEC finish (tie for fourth). Starting all 17 games, she ended the season tied for fifth on the club with 17 caused turnovers and 25 ground balls. In her four years, the Lynch, MD native set a new school record with 70 caused turnovers and ranks sixth in program history with 83 ground balls. A dual sport athlete, Egan was named team Most Valuable Player in both lacrosse and field hockey this past year. She was named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large first team and has registered a 3.95 grade point average as a Nursing major.

Wagner senior first baseman Andrea Lazzari (Reno, NV/Wooster) collects the Scholar-Athlete prize in softball, the latest in a string of honors for the Reno, NV product. In addition to back-to-back NEC Player of the Year awards, Lazzari was named Wagner’s Student-Athlete of the Year and was just recently honored as an ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American. In 2009, she won the NEC Triple Crown with a .412 average, league record 16 homers and 51 RBI. Lazzari also established single-season school marks with 70 hits and 338 putouts, and leaves Wagner as the career recordholder in home runs (34), doubles (50), hits (238), total bases (390) and putouts (1,124). A former NEC Rookie of the Year and three-time first team All-NEC pick, she was named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region first team at year’s end. Lazzari carries a 3.83 grade point average with a double major of Sociology and Education.

Monmouth senior Benjamin Evenden (Cresco, PA/Ridgewood (NJ)) and St. Francis (NY) senior Jindrich Chaloupka (Sumperk, Czech Republic) share Scholar-Athlete honors in men’s tennis. A gifted student off the court, Evenden was nominated for the prestigious Rhodes Scholar Award and was recently named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large third team. In April, he helped lead the Hawks to their second NEC finals appearance in the last three years, manning the #1 singles spot. Evenden finished 2008-09 with four singles wins and teamed with Ian Terpilowski for six victories at #1 doubles. A member of the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society and associate of the Economics and Finance Club, Evenden’s Scholar-Athlete award is the second of his career, having also been honored in 2007. A native of Cresco, PA, Evenden is a Business Finance major who maintains a near-perfect 3.99 grade point average. Chaloupka became the first player in St. Francis (NY) history to attain first team All-Conference status when he was named the NEC Player of the Year after closing out 2008-09 with a 15-3 record at #1 flight singles, including a perfect 7-0 mark in league play. In helping the Terriers boost their win total from one to seven, Chaloupka posted the NEC’s top winning percentage (.833) for the third year in a row. He also vaulted into the ITA national rankings, reaching as high as 106th in March. Chaloupka finished his three-year career with a perfect 17-0 record against conference opposition and a 38-6 overall mark. Named the St. Francis (NY) Men’s Athlete of the Year, he has earned a spot on the Dean’s List and NEC Honor Roll in every semester of attendance. Hailing from Sumperk, Czech Republic, Chaloupka has posted a 3.52 grade point average majoring in Economics.

Quinnipiac junior Nicole Adams (New Windsor, NY/Newburgh Free Academy) collects her second straight Scholar-Athlete award in women’s tennis. She teamed with classmate Kasey Rosenberger to claim first team All-Conference honors at #3 doubles, finishing with a league-best seven wins in the flight for the NEC runner-up Bobcats. Adams also earned eight singles victories on the year, including a 2-0 mark against league opposition and a 6-6 record in #6 flight play. A native of New Windsor, NY, she concluded her career with 53 wins and was part of three NEC championship teams. Adams is an International Business major who carries a 3.86 grade point average.

Long Island senior Andre Marcano (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago/Queen’s Royal College) is the recipient of his first Scholar-Athlete award in outdoor track and field. Marcano raced to the 100 meter title at the NEC Outdoor Championships in May, crossing the tape in 10.75. He ran a season-best 10.59 en-route to a fourth place finish at the IC4A Championships, then clocked in with a 10.66 at the NCAA East Regionals. Earlier in the year, he won the 100 meters at the Metropolitan Championships with a 10.65 and in that same meet ran a career-best 22.01 in the 200 meters. Marcano also ran a leg on Long Island’s 4x100 meter relay team that finished second at the IC4A Championships with a season-best time of 40.70. An NEC Academic Honor Roll member throughout his career, the native of Trinidad & Tobago serves as a member of the LIU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Marcano maintains a 3.44 grade point average majoring in Mathematics.

After claiming Scholar-Athlete accolades over the winter in women’s indoor track and field, Saint Francis (PA) junior distance runner Anna Hoffman (Enon Valley, PA/Mohawk) concludes her outstanding year with a second Scholar-Athlete award in women’s outdoor track and field. Hoffman captured the sixth and seventh individual titles of her career this past May, crossing the tape first at the NEC Outdoor Championships in both the 1,500 meters (4:42.93) and 5,000 meters (ECAC qualifying time of 17:22.68). She is now a four-time league champion in the 5,000 meters (indoor and outdoor in both 2008 and 2009), and has also won titles in the 3,000 meters (2009 indoor) and 3,000 meter steeplechase (2007 outdoors). Hoffman, who hails from Enon Valley, PA, enters her senior season as a ten-time All-NEC performer and four-time NEC Athlete of the Week. She is a two-time member of the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District first team and has made the Saint Francis (PA) Dean’s List each semester. Hoffman, who is active on campus as a member of the Saint Francis Leadership Council and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, majors in Elementary/Special Education. Her grade point average is 3.87.