Donovan, Nalesnik, Young Earn Academic All-League Distinction
5/12/2017 11:02:00 AM | Baseball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – More Patriot League awards rolled in for a trio of Lehigh baseball seniors as the league announced its Academic All-Patriot League honorees and Scholar-Athlete of the Year award winner on Friday morning. Connor Donovan, Jacen Nalesnik and David Young each earned Academic All-League honors to recognize their superb work in the classroom after they were all recently named to the All-Patriot League Team earlier in the week for their outstanding performance in the field this season.
To be eligible for the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-Patriot League awards, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and be a starter or key player in his or her sport. Freshmen are not eligible for this honor. The academic award winners are voted on by the league's sports information directors.
Lehigh tied for league in Academic All-League selections with three on this year's team, making it back-to-back seasons with three Mountain Hawks selected to the team. Lafayette also garnered three selections, while Army and Bucknell each had two. Holy Cross and Navy rounded out the list with one selection each.
With this year's selection, Young earned his second-straight Academic All-League honor. The senior owns a 3.39 GPA and will graduate in May with a degree in finance. Young qualified for the Dean's List (min. 3.6 GPA) this past fall and has posted at least a 3.2 GPA in six of a possible seven semesters throughout his career. He is a two-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll honoree and is on his way to a third honor this spring.
Young garnered a second team All-Patriot League selection this season as he finished in the top-five in batting average, RBI, total bases, home runs and total hits among Patriot League leaders in league play. In the overall league rankings, he finished in the top-10 in slugging percentage, RBI, home runs and total bases.
Along with his dedication to his studies and time on the field, Young has also volunteered his time to Lehigh's Student-Athletes Leading Social Change (SALSC) program.
Nalesnik is also making a return to the Academic All-League list after earning the honor in 2015. The Lehighton, Pa. native is coming off back-to-back Dean's List qualifications in the spring 2016 and fall 2016 semesters. The senior has posted at least a 3.2 GPA in five of a possible seven semesters throughout his career. He is a two-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll honoree (2014 & 2016) and is in line for a third honor this semester. Nalesnik owns a 3.41 GPA and will graduate in May with a degree in history.
The hard-hitting right fielder was recognized as a first team All-Patriot League selection this season as he finished as the league leader in home runs (13) and slugging percentage (.606). He also ranked in the top-10 nationally for home runs, runs scored and total bases.
Donovan earns his first Academic All-League selection as he owns a 3.37 GPA and will graduate in May with a finance degree. The Yardley, Pa. native has posted a min. 3.2 GPA in five of a possible seven semesters throughout his career. He is a two-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll honoree (2014 & 2016) and is due for a third honor this semester. Off the field, Donovan has been active in dedicating his time to Lehigh's Student-Athlete Mentor (SAM) program.
On the field this season, Donovan doubled up as a first and second team All-Patriot League honoree. Offensively, the designated hitter and first baseman ranked third in the League in home runs (8) and ninth in slugging percentage (.507). On the mound, he posted the lowest overall ERA (2.11) among Patriot League starting pitchers and surrendered the fewest amount of runs (17) and earned runs (11) among League starters. He also surrendered just four extra-base hits throughout the season, which is the lowest among league pitchers who threw at least 22.1 innings.
With the trio of Mountain Hawks selected to this year's Academic All-Patriot League Team, Lehigh's count swells to 13 selections in program history since the league formed the honor in 2011. Nalesnik and Young now become the third and fourth Lehigh student-athletes to earn multiple selections.
Corvias Patriot League Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Kris Lindner, Army West Point, (Sr.)
Baseball Academic All-Patriot League Team
Kris Lindner, Army West Point (Sr.)
Cam Opp, Army West Point (So.)
Jeff Gottesman, Bucknell (So.)
Keifer Rawlings, Bucknell (Jr.)
Joe Cravero, Holy Cross (Sr.)
Trevor Houck, Lafayette (Sr.)
Luke Robinson, Lafayette (Jr.)
Alex Woinski, Lafayette (Sr.)
Jacen Nalesnik, Lehigh (Sr.)
David Young, Lehigh (Sr.)
Connor Donovan, Lehigh (Sr.)
Stephen Born, Navy (Jr.)
To be eligible for the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-Patriot League awards, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and be a starter or key player in his or her sport. Freshmen are not eligible for this honor. The academic award winners are voted on by the league's sports information directors.
Lehigh tied for league in Academic All-League selections with three on this year's team, making it back-to-back seasons with three Mountain Hawks selected to the team. Lafayette also garnered three selections, while Army and Bucknell each had two. Holy Cross and Navy rounded out the list with one selection each.
With this year's selection, Young earned his second-straight Academic All-League honor. The senior owns a 3.39 GPA and will graduate in May with a degree in finance. Young qualified for the Dean's List (min. 3.6 GPA) this past fall and has posted at least a 3.2 GPA in six of a possible seven semesters throughout his career. He is a two-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll honoree and is on his way to a third honor this spring.
Young garnered a second team All-Patriot League selection this season as he finished in the top-five in batting average, RBI, total bases, home runs and total hits among Patriot League leaders in league play. In the overall league rankings, he finished in the top-10 in slugging percentage, RBI, home runs and total bases.
Along with his dedication to his studies and time on the field, Young has also volunteered his time to Lehigh's Student-Athletes Leading Social Change (SALSC) program.
Nalesnik is also making a return to the Academic All-League list after earning the honor in 2015. The Lehighton, Pa. native is coming off back-to-back Dean's List qualifications in the spring 2016 and fall 2016 semesters. The senior has posted at least a 3.2 GPA in five of a possible seven semesters throughout his career. He is a two-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll honoree (2014 & 2016) and is in line for a third honor this semester. Nalesnik owns a 3.41 GPA and will graduate in May with a degree in history.
The hard-hitting right fielder was recognized as a first team All-Patriot League selection this season as he finished as the league leader in home runs (13) and slugging percentage (.606). He also ranked in the top-10 nationally for home runs, runs scored and total bases.
Donovan earns his first Academic All-League selection as he owns a 3.37 GPA and will graduate in May with a finance degree. The Yardley, Pa. native has posted a min. 3.2 GPA in five of a possible seven semesters throughout his career. He is a two-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll honoree (2014 & 2016) and is due for a third honor this semester. Off the field, Donovan has been active in dedicating his time to Lehigh's Student-Athlete Mentor (SAM) program.
On the field this season, Donovan doubled up as a first and second team All-Patriot League honoree. Offensively, the designated hitter and first baseman ranked third in the League in home runs (8) and ninth in slugging percentage (.507). On the mound, he posted the lowest overall ERA (2.11) among Patriot League starting pitchers and surrendered the fewest amount of runs (17) and earned runs (11) among League starters. He also surrendered just four extra-base hits throughout the season, which is the lowest among league pitchers who threw at least 22.1 innings.
With the trio of Mountain Hawks selected to this year's Academic All-Patriot League Team, Lehigh's count swells to 13 selections in program history since the league formed the honor in 2011. Nalesnik and Young now become the third and fourth Lehigh student-athletes to earn multiple selections.
Corvias Patriot League Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Kris Lindner, Army West Point, (Sr.)
Baseball Academic All-Patriot League Team
Kris Lindner, Army West Point (Sr.)
Cam Opp, Army West Point (So.)
Jeff Gottesman, Bucknell (So.)
Keifer Rawlings, Bucknell (Jr.)
Joe Cravero, Holy Cross (Sr.)
Trevor Houck, Lafayette (Sr.)
Luke Robinson, Lafayette (Jr.)
Alex Woinski, Lafayette (Sr.)
Jacen Nalesnik, Lehigh (Sr.)
David Young, Lehigh (Sr.)
Connor Donovan, Lehigh (Sr.)
Stephen Born, Navy (Jr.)
Players Mentioned
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