SDSU's Lee, SUU's Manuele Named Scholar-Athletes of the Year
ELMHURST, Ill. - South Dakota State baseball player John
Lee (Mason City, Iowa) and Southern Utah women's cross
country and track & field athlete Sharla
Manuele (Newcastle, Utah) have been selected as the
2009-10 Summit League Scholar-Athletes of the Year in a vote by the
league's faculty athletic representatives. The Summit League
Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award is the most prestigious
individual honor given by the league.
Lee graduated from South Dakota State in May with a
cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.902 and a degree in
chemistry. He earned ESPN The Magazine Academic
All-America First Team honors this season, along with being named
to The Summit League's All-Academic Team and Commissioner's List of
Academic Excellence. As a Jackrabbit Scholar Athlete, Lee was also
named honorable mention for the Outstanding Senior Award presented
by the American Chemical Society. He is an active member of Habitat
for Humanity and the Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Lambda Upsilon honor
societies. An Arete Scholarship receipient, Lee helped a chemistry
research group write an article that was published in the journal
"Analytica Chimica Acta" last fall.
On the field, Lee finished second in the league and was tops on
the Jackrabbit squad with a .399 average from 91 hits in 59 games.
He ranked third in The Summit League with 74 runs scored,
collecting 61 RBI. A first team All-Summit League selection as a
rightfielder this season, Lee recorded a .627 slugging percentage
and .470 on-base percentage, while collecting 22 walks against 19
strikeouts. Defensively, he had just one error for a .991 fielding
percentage, along with registering two outfield assists. Lee also
belted nine home runs, while registering 21 doubles and two triples
this year.
A Summa Cum Laude graduate, Manuele earned her nursing degree from
Southern Utah after compiling a 3.84 GPA. She was named to the
Dean's List the last six semesters, along with being recognized as
an outstanding student by the nursing department. SUU also awarded
her the Outstanding Student-Athlete Academic Award for the 2009-10
school year. With her nursing background, Manuele has volunteered
with numerous health service activities in the Cedar City community
regarding H1N1 prevention, scoliosis and vision screenings. She has
volunteered and helped run high school cross country and track
& field meets for the past five years, along with working at
the Utah Summer Games.
Manuele was named The Summit League Cross Country Athlete of the
Year after collecting Championship MVP and first team all-league
honors. During the 2009 season, she earned the league's Athlete of
the Week award four times and recorded three individual first-place
finishes. Her Summit League Championships time of 21:50.00 helped
the Thunderbirds win the title. Manuele posted the league's top 5k
(17:09) and 6k (21:16.5) times and recorded a 22nd-place finish at
the NCAA Cross Country Mountain Regional. During the indoor track
& field season, Manuele was named an All-American by the United
States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Assocation after
placing 16th (4:54.15) at the NCAA Championships in the mile run.
She was named The Summit League's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year
after collecting the top times in the league in both the mile
(4:39.82) and 3,000-meter run (9:25.21) this season. The Utah
native was also named the Outdoor Track Championship MVP after
setting a new meet record with a time of 16:47.65 in the
5,000-meter run and placing first in the 1,500-meter run
(4:27.95).
Also nominated for the Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year
award: Quinn Larwood, Centenary, swimming & diving; Ben Botts,
IPFW, basketball; Eric Weigman, IUPUI, soccer; John Bayron Sosa,
UMKC; soccer; Ted Rud, North Dakota State, track & field; Zack
Jones, Oakland, cross country/track & field; Kevin Sandall,
Southern Utah, cross country/track & field; Cole Waddell,
Western Illinois, baseball.
Also nominated for the Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year
award: Jessica Brown, Centenary, cross country/swimming &
diving; Alexandra Okihiro, IPFW, soccer; Katrina McCrory, IUPUI,
soccer; Jamie Hagerman, UMKC, volleyball; Melissa Chmielewski,
North Dakota State, softball; Agnieszka Solan, Oakland, swimming
& diving; Rachel Talbert, Oral Roberts, track & field;
Ashley Storm, South Dakota State, cross country/track & field;
Lori Pankratz, Western Illinois, softball.
