April 7, 2010

PHILADELPHIA - La Salle senior swimmer Shannon Duval and senior men's basketball player Yves Mekongo were named the Female and Male Scholar Athletes of the Year at the Athletic Department's Student-Athlete Academic Recognition Ceremony, held on Wednesday evening in the Student Union.

Also receiving awards were senior Cary Summers, who received the Joseph E. Crowley award; senior field hockey player Kara Harpel and senior softball player Mary Pat Conville, who received the De La Salle Community Service Award and senior lacrosse player Jill Davis, who received the Academic Excellence Award given to the senior student-athlete with the highest grade point average.

The men's tennis team earned the top GPA in the spring of 2009 for a men's team and the baseball team had the best GPA in the fall of 2009. The field hockey team had the top women's team GPA in both the fall and spring of 2009.

Duval was named the Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete of the Year in Women's Swimming and Diving. She owns nine school records and won a pair of A-10 Championships this winter in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. A native of Trinadad and Tobago, Duval is a three-time Academic All-Atlantic 10 selection with a 3.81 GPA as an accounting major.

Mekongo is a two-time CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American that also received the Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete of the Year in Men's Basketball. A three-time Academic All-Atlantic 10 selection, Mekongo scored 1,014 points in his career. A native of Cameroon, Mekongo owns a 3.81 GPA as a integrated science, business and technology major.

Davis owns a 4.0 GPA as an elementary/special education major. The senior women's lacrosse player leads the Explorers, who are in first place with a 3-0 Atlantic 10 record, with 32 goals and 40 points. She is also second in the A-10 in both categories.

The Crowley Awarded to a student who is given to a student who is not an athlete who has made a significant contribution to the athletic department. Summers has served as a student-worker with the athletic facilities staff for the past four years.

Harpel is a dedicated volunteer with Big Brother Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania and regularly spends time at Logan Elementary School with her "little." She is a four-year starter in field hockey that finished her career in the top 10 in points and goals at La Salle.

Conville serves as the secretary of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and is a four-year starter on the softball team. She batted .370 as a sophomore and is currently hitting a team-best .353.