LOCK HAVEN –– Slippery Rock University track and field standouts Sabrina Anderson and David Reinhardt were honored Friday with the highest academic honor the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference gives when they were named the Pete Nevins Scholar-Athletes of the Year for the 2016-17 academic year.
The PSAC has named a Scholar-Athlete of the Year for each gender since the 1990-91 academic year. This marks just the second time in the history of the awards and the first time since 1993-94 that any institution in the league has swept both of the yearly honors.
The pair become the ninth and 10th Slippery Rock honorees in the history of the award and Anderson becomes just the fifth woman and sixth overall student-athlete in the history of the award to win the honor twice after she also won the 2015-16 award.
In order to be eligible for the Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor, a student-athlete must be named to at least one of the PSAC Top 10 teams throughout the year, must be at least a sophomore in academic and athletic standing, must maintain above a 3.50 cumulative grade point average and must have significant athletic credentials. Each of the 18 member institutions in the league can nominate only one male and one female for the award, which is voted on by the league’s sports information directors.
Reinhardt, a Bradford High graduate, is the first SRU male to win the honor since Tim Kusniez in 1999-00 and just the fourth male in SRU history. After graduating from The Rock with a 3.76 GPA, Reinhardt currently has a 3.82 graduate GPA at Slippery Rock.
The thrower enjoyed All-American honors this season for the second time in his career. This is his first career Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor.
Anderson, a Warren Area graduate, had a 3.91 undergraduate GPA and a perfect 4.0 graduate GPA, both at The Rock and becomes just the fifth woman in league history to win the award twice.
She earned her third straight Academic All-America honor this year and her second straight first team selection, while being one of only four women in the nation to earn three Academic All-America honors in track and field
The awards were renamed in 2007 to honor East Stroudsburg’s long-time sports information director, Pete Nevins, who passed away earlier that year.
“This is a tremendous honor for Sabrina and Dave,” said John Papa, head track and field coach. “There couldn’t be two better role models and ambassadors for our program than these two. They were the epitome of excellence in their athletic and academic careers and we are extremely proud of their accomplishments.”
“Having one winner of this prestigious award is an outstanding accomplishment, but sweeping the awards that exemplify the true meaning of the term student-athlete is incredible for our university and the athletic department,” said Paul Lueken, director of athletics. “We commend coach Papa and his staff for their leadership. We congratulate Sabrina and Dave on incredible careers and we thank them for being such great ambassadors for Slippery Rock University.”
Anderson and Reinhardt were both first team Academic All-Americans this year and were both two-time PSAC Top 10 honorees, being named to the Winter and the Spring Top 10 teams.
