LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Senior
Jake Pilarski of the Mercyhurst University men's golf team has been named a Spring 2013 Top Ten Award Winner by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The announcement was made by the conference office on Monday afternoon.
The Top Ten Award recipients are chosen by the PSAC's sports information directors and are designed to recognize student-athletes who excel in both the classroom and in athletic competition.
To be a candidate for the PSAC Top Ten Awards, a student-athlete must have achieved a minimum of a 3.50 cumulative grade point average and must be a starter or key reserve with legitimate athletic credentials for their respective team. The sports eligible for consideration for the Spring Top Ten Awards are men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's outdoor track and field, baseball, and softball.
Pilarski, a native of Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania earned the PSAC Champion Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in the sport for the second consecutive season at the PSAC Team Championships during the fall. The award honors the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average at the tournament site.
Pilarski finished his four-year college career with a 4.00 GPA, majoring in political science with a specialization in international relations.
The senior averaged a 76.0 over the course of 20 rounds during the 2012-13 season. He had three top-ten finishes during the season - tying for sixth at the Davis & Elkins Invitational (September 3 and 4), tying for ninth at the Gannon Invitational (September 23 and 24), and placing third at the Mercyhurst Spring Invitational (April 20).
He qualified for the NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament, tying for 27th place at the event held at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia. He shot 77-76-76 at the par-71 course over the three-day tournament. It was his third straight appearance in the Atlantic Regionals.
Pilarski became the third Laker to earn a Top Ten honor this year. Mercyhurst also had one athlete awarded in the fall (Anthony Vendemia - football) and winter (Luis Leao - men's basketball) during the academic year.
Initiated in the 1997-98 academic year, the Top Ten Award recipients are given to five male and five females in each athletic season: fall, winter and spring. Joining Pilarski as the Top Ten Award winners for the spring season were: Aaron Dinzeo and Erin Kling of California (Pa.), Kevin Jewel of Slippery Rock, Pat Kregeloh of Shippensburg, Matt Tholis of East Stroudsburg, Tabitha Bemis and Sarah Krolick of Edinboro, Ridhima Borooah of Kutztown, and Brenae Edwards of Mansfield.
At the conclusion of the academic year, all Top Ten Award winners from each season are eligible for the PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards, given to one male and one female candidate at the end of the academic year.
Mercyhurst Top Ten Winners Since Joining PSAC In 2008-09
Bryan Boyce - football (Fall 2008)
Taylor Hilinski - women's soccer (Fall 2008)
Trey Bennett - baseball (Spring 2009)
Taylor Hilinski - women's soccer (Fall 2009)
Kyle King - men's tennis (Spring 2010)
Bryan Boyce - football (Fall 2010)
Ian Wild - football (Fall 2010 - went on to win the Pete Nevins PSAC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award)
Luis Leao - men's basketball (Winter 2010-11)
Ian Wild - football (Fall 2011)
Nikki Frederickson - women's basketball (Winter 2011-12)
Samantha Eimers - softball (Spring 2012)
Anthony Vendemia - football (Fall 2012)
Luis Leao - men's basketball (Winter 2012-13)
Jake Pilarski - men's golf (Spring 2013)
