Baseball | May 11, 2020
PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle University Department of Athletics and Recreation wrapped up the 2019-20 academic year with the announcement of the 2020 Explorer Awards over the weekend. The year-end awards, which honor those student-athletes who excelled on the field of competition, in the classroom and in the community, were unveiled virtually on social media on Friday.
Seniors
Nathan Gillis and
Grace Mancini of the men's and women's cross country and track & field teams headlined the night as the recipients for Scholar-Athletes of the Year. The softball team also had two major award winners as senior
Lauren Morell earned the Academic Excellence Award and fellow senior
Courtney Shupp collected the De La Salle Community Service Award.
Gillis also received the award for Male Performance of the Year, while swimming and diving sophomore
Sara Rizzetto picked up the Female Performance of the Year. Volleyball junior
Samantha Graver was recognized as the Female Rising Star Award winner, and baseball sophomore
Tatem Levins received the Male Rising Star Award. The Rookie of the Year award winners both came from cross country/track & field in
Alex Sandras and
Jerika Lufrano.
It was a banner year for Gillis, both in cross country and on the track. He started by helping the Explorers win the Atlantic 10 Men's Cross Country Championship in the fall by placing 17th individually out of 129 runners. He then went on to win his second straight title in the 1,000-meter run at the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track & Field Championships in February. Gillis also stood out in the classroom, putting together a 3.23 GPA, which led to Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference and
Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area honors.
Mancini had a tremendous cross country season while excelling in the classroom as well. She was instrumental in leading La Salle to the women's team title at the Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championship in November. She was the team's top finisher, placing third among 131 runners to earn All-Conference recognition. A Computer Science & Mathematics major, Mancini managed a 3.47 cumulative GPA and garnered
Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area laurels.
Morell graduated with a degree in Mathematics & Finance over the weekend and achieved greatness during her time as a student-athlete. She put forth an incredible 3.99 cumulative GPA during her academic career at La Salle. In the fall, Morell was honored as an Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete.
Shupp was a key leader in the community this past year, helping the department reach record numbers for community service hours. She served as a volunteer at Lehigh Valley Hospital, was a Teacher Aide at the Clarke School and a Junior Achievement Guidance Counselor among many other volunteer efforts. On the field, Shupp was the Atlantic 10 Softball Player of the Week on March 2 after hitting .462 with two home runs and eight RBI over four games.
Additionally, the Explorer Excellence awards for each team were announced. These go to an individual from each sport program who, as voted on by their teammates, demonstrated leadership, character, sportsmanship, and best exemplified the values of their team.
Explorer Excellence Awards:
Video contributions courtesy of Emily Talluto.
