Bridgewater, NJ — A whopping nine Northeast Conference (NEC) student-athletes graduated with perfect academic records this spring.
A record-high eight highly-achieving women — Nina Carlomusto (FDU; women's soccer), Kaitie Conte (Saint Francis U; women's bowling), Kelly Dickson (Saint Francis U; women's lacrosse), Jeanie Edgington (Saint Francis U; women's volleyball), Leah Nonnenmann (LIU; women's lacrosse), Lexi Smith (LIU; women's cross country/track and field), Lauren Taylor (St. Francis Brooklyn, women's soccer) and Ashtyn Van Horn (St. Francis Brooklyn; women's soccer) — are co-recipients of the NEC Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year award after completing their undergraduate careers with 4.00 grade-point averages.
Sacred Heart sprinter Matthew Zawaski equaled that perfection to earn NEC Male Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year distinction.
In its 17th year, the NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, which is sponsored by the league's Faculty Athletic Representatives, goes to the male and female team student-athletes who have graduated after compiling the highest grade-point average in the Conference at the conclusion of the academic calendar.
Saint Francis U totaled three a league-leading NEC Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year recipients to lead the pack. St. Francis Brooklyn joined LIU as the only other NEC institution to produce multiple honorees this year with two NEC Female Team Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
Conte (Whitesboro, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) was the second women's bowler in NEC annals to take home the Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. An Accounting major who also earned an M.B.A at Saint Francis U, she joins former Red Flash bowler Sarah Ross (2015-16) in receiving the prestigious honor. Conte, a native of Whitesboro, NY, earned a spot on the NEC Academic Honor Roll and NEC Commissioner's Roll in all of her three years in Loretto. Capping off her career by averaging 17.44 pins per frame in Baker play, she rolled 197 strikes during her time in a Red Flash uniform.
Alongside LIU's Nonnenmann, Dickson (Blue Bell, PA/Wissahickon) became the first-ever women's lacrosse player from any NEC member institution to garner Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. The award comes just one month removed from a senior campaign that saw her lead Saint Francis U to a school-record 10 wins, including five against NEC competition, and the program's first-ever conference championship appearance. Making starts in all 16 games while tallying 15 goals and 18 assists in the Red Flash's historic season as a midfielder/defender, Dickson closed out her career with 37 points, 81 ground balls, 37 draw controls and 45 caused turnovers in 51 games. An Accounting major who earned NEC Academic Honor Roll and Commissioner's Honor Roll status in each of her four years in Loretto, Dickson has accepted a position at Ernst and Young in Philadelphia.
Edgington (Olmsted Falls, OH/Olmsted) joined Elise Dumouchelle (2018-19) as Saint Francis U women's volleyball players who have garnered NEC Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Departing Loretto with an undergraduate degree in Chemistry/Mathematics, the middle hitter capped off her career by leading the Red Flash to consecutive NEC Tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022. Edgington, who was a four-time NEC Academic Honor Roll and a four-time NEC Commissioner's Honor Roll member, racked up 54.0 blocks in 36 career matches.
St. Francis Brooklyn's Taylor (Wheeling, WV/Wheeling Park (Memphis)) and Van Horn (Santa Rosa, CA/Maria Carillo (Loyola Marymount)) made conference history by becoming the first-ever female teammates to share NEC Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. They join former Terriers and men's swimming and diving tandem Moran Stern and Andrija Vrdoljak, who were NEC Male Team Co-Scholar-Athletes of the Year in the first year of the award, in 2006-07.
They are also the first-ever St. Francis Brooklyn women's soccer players to garner the award.
A forward, Taylor is a three-time member of both the NEC Academic Honor Roll and the NEC Commissioner's Honor Roll. The West Virginia native ended her career on a high note after she led the Terriers with seven points and three goals in her final season. Throughout her three years in Brooklyn, she tallied four goals and five assists in 37 appearances. Taylor, who previously attended the University of Memphis, recently graduated with her Master's in Psychology.
Van Horn, who made a home in Brooklyn after spending her freshman year at Loyola Marymount, will be returning to her home state of California to pursue her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Pepperdine University. In addition to an undergraduate degree in Psychology with a minor in Business, the forward graduated from St. Francis Brooklyn with a Master's degree. Van Horn claimed NEC Academic Honor Roll and NEC Commissioner's Honor Roll recognition in each of her three years.
For the second time in as many years, LIU landed multiple NEC Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year honorees in Nonnenmann (Mount Sinai, NY/Mount Sinai (Furman)) and Smith (Shoreham, NY/Shoreham-Wading River (Suffolk Community)).
Nonnenmann joined Dickson in becoming the first-ever women's lacrosse player from any NEC member institution to garner Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Finding a home in Brookville as graduate student after she played four seasons and earned an undergraduate degree in Communication Studies, she departs LIU with a Master's degree in Criminal Justice. Nonnenmann's numbers on the field were just as impressive as the ones she put up in the classroom. The two-time NEC Academic Honor Roll selection, two-time Commissioner's Honor Roll member and three-time NEC Prime Performer guided the Sharks to NEC women's lacrosse tournament appearances in each of her two seasons and registered 43 points in that stretch.
Smith followed the footsteps of former teammate Laurie Hauet, who became LIU's first-ever women's track and field athlete to earn NEC Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year distinction last year. The distance runner ended her two-year career by earning All-NEC status on the cross country course following an eighth-place finish at the NEC Championships held at B & D Acres Farm in Tyrone, PA. A Childhood/Special Education major who racked up four NEC Academic Honor Roll and four NEC Commissioner's Honor Roll nods during her time in Brookville, Smith's final season also yielded four Prime Performer distinctions and an NEC Athlete of the Week award (Sept. 14).
Carlomusto (Hicksville, NY/Hicksville), who played in 54 games during her four years in Hackensack, collected some serious bling at the end of her undergraduate career after she helped lead FDU to the program's second-ever NEC women's soccer championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. During the Knights' banner-raising season, the Hicksville, NY native made 22 appearances and 19 starts in FDU's back line. Inking her name on the NEC Academic Honor Roll and the NEC Commissioner's Honor Roll four times during her career, Carlomusto earned her degree in Science (Education). She plans to return to FDU for a fifth year to work towards her Master's and begin student teaching. She is the third Knight to garner NEC Female Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, joining former women's soccer player Kristina Neri (2016-17) and women's fencer Evgeniya Tyrtova (2011-12).
Sacred Heart's second NEC Male Team Scholar-Athlete of the Year honoree, Zawaski (Mansfield, MA/Bishop Feehan) was a sprinter on the Pioneers men's track and field team. The Massachusetts native and Finance major did not compete during the 2022-23 season, but during the 2022 outdoor campaign, he posted a pair of top-10 finishes in the 400m, won the 200m at the Jim Barber & Jack Maloney Invitational and led Sacred Heart's 4x400m relay team to a runner-up finish at the New England Championships.
NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year History
Year Men Women
2022-23 Matthew Zawaski, Sacred Heart Nina Carlomusto, FDU
Leah Nonnenmann, LIU
Lexi Smith, LIU
Lauren Taylor, St. Francis Brooklyn
Ashtyn Van Horn, St. Francis Brooklyn
Kaitie Conte, Saint Francis U
Kelly Dickson, Saint Francis U
Jeanie Edgington, Saint Francis U
2021-22 Mason Schoop, Central Connecticut Natalie Novak, Central Connecticut
Demetri Skoumbakis, LIU Laurie Hauet, LIU
Matthew Blose, Saint Francis U Shyla Sanford, LIU
Grace Scura, LIU
Jenna Wike, Merrimack
Mari Fay, Sacred Heart
Madeline Delore, Wagner
2020-21 Tomas Bernardes, St. Francis Brooklyn Grace Buchholz, Merrimack
Shannon Cody, Saint Francis U
2019-20 Gregory Heider, Saint Francis U Delaney Beck, Wagner
Scott Meredith, Saint Francis U Adriana Forcucci, Sacred Heart
2018-19 Shane Vyskocil, Bryant Lacee Collins, Robert Morris
Frank Cerillo, LIU Brooklyn Dana DiRenzo, St. Francis Brooklyn
Nicholas Nemergut, St. Francis Brooklyn Samantha Lackner, Robert Morris
Elise Dumouchelle, Saint Francis U
2017-18 Charlton Boyd, Wagner Abigail Hood, Sacred Heart
Joseph Choiniere, Sacred Heart Kristina Neri, Fairleigh Dickinson
Marcus DaSliva, St. Francis Brooklyn
2016-17 Joseph Paparelli, Bryant Taylor Allison, Saint Francis U
Sarah Bonson, Mount St. Mary's
Nicole Dean, Central Connecticut
Lea Lieb, Sacred Heart
Avika Sagwal, Wagner
2015-16 Washi Gervais, Saint Francis U Dragana Dzigurski, St. Francis Brooklyn
Haley Fournier, Mount St. Mary's
Sarah Ross, Saint Francis U
Brittany Sarza, Bryant
2014-15 David Lonnberg, St. Francis Brooklyn Katie Fox, St. Francis Brooklyn
2013-14 Travis Denny, Robert Morris Ellen Huffman, Wagner
2012-13 Mark Quaranta, Mount St. Mary's Una Japundza, Robert Morris
Carly Thibault, Monmouth
2011-12 Michael Foster, Mount St. Mary's Evgeniya Tyrtova, Fairleigh Dickinson
2010-11 Sean O'Reilly, Saint Francis U Ali Kliment, Monmouth
2009-10 Filip Kisdobranski, St. Francis Brooklyn Maggie O'Connell Dubois, Mount St. Mary's
2008-09 Benjamin Evenden, Monmouth Kathleen Henry, Sacred Heart
Tara Maxwell, Robert Morris
Erin Reifsteck, Saint Francis U
2007-08 Ian Butcher, Saint Francis U Katja Bavendam, St. Francis Brooklyn
2006-07 Moran Stern, St. Francis Brooklyn Lisa Jaszka, Robert Morris
Andrija Vrdoljak, St. Francis Brooklyn
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 42nd season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Boston (#9) and Hartford/New Haven (#33). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 24 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 15 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league's official website official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.