Male Scholar Athlete of the Week: September 20th-24th, 2021
Institution: Bowling Green
Name: Logan Kowalczyk
Sport: Men’s Soccer
Position: Goalkeeper
Year: Junior
GPA: 3.239
Major: Communication Major
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Bowling Green goalkeeper Logan Kowalczyk had two more shutouts last week as the Falcons won a pair of matches. He made three saves in BGSU’s 3-0 win over Wright State, then had two more stops as the Falcons topped nationally-ranked FIU, 2-0. Kowalczyk has a goals-against average of just 0.28 on the season, and he has five clean sheets in the Falcons’ seven matches. BGSU is now 5-1-1 on the season, with the only loss coming against the defending national champions.
Female Scholar Athlete of the Week: September 20th-24th, 2021
Institution: Bowling Green
Name: Audrey Shea
Sport: Women’s Soccer
Position: Defender
Year: Junior
GPA: 4.000
Major: Biology
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Bowling Green defender Audrey Shea helped the Falcons battle #17 Xavier to a 1-1 draw in BG’s lone match of the week. She played all 110 minutes and scored the first goal of her collegiate career, off of a BG corner kick. And, at the other end of the field, Shea and the BG defense held the Musketeers, who entered the match with a 7-0-0 record, to just that one goal. The draw is believed to be the first time in program history that BGSU has earned a result against a top-25 team. Shea has played 664 of the team’s 670 minutes this season.
The Scholar Athlete of the Week Award is presented to a MAC male and/or female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during that week's competition. An institution can nominate up to one male and one female student-athlete per week in any of that current season's sports. The winners are selected by a representative of the MAC's Faculty Athletics Representatives (FARs)
Other Male Nominees
Institution: Ball State
Name: Eli Herran
Sport: Tennis
Position: Tennis Player
Year: Junior
GPA: 3.831
Major: Computer Information
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Ball State junior men’s tennis player had a strong start to the 2021 fall season, capping an impressive weekend with a 2-1 (5-7, 7-5, 6-3) victory over Purdue’s Tomasz Dudek on Sunday at the Purdue Fall Invite … Herran also picked up a straight set, 6-0, 6-4, singles win over IUPUI’s Nathan Day on Saturday, after winning all three doubles matches he played on Friday … Herran combined with Thibault de Negri for doubles wins over DePaul (6-4) and Purdue (6-4), while playing with Petar Petrovic to earn the doubles win over IUPUI (6-1) … Overall, Herran went 2-1 in singles play and 3-0 in doubles action on the weekend.
Institution: Buffalo
Name: Dominic Johnson
Sport: Football
Position: Wide Receiver
Year: Senior
GPA: 3.697
Major: Education Studies, EDM
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Dominic Johnson was Buffalo’s leading receiver as UB went toe-to-toe with the 16
th ranked team in the country in Coastal Carolina on Saturday afternoon. Johnson had six catches for 66 yards, with a long of 18 yards. He also helped set the block on the outside as the Bulls ran for 262 yards against the Chanticleers. The six catches and 66 yards were both career highs for Johnson.
Institution: Eastern Michigan University
Name: Baldvin Magnusson
Sport: Cross Country
Position: N/A
Year: Junior
GPA: 3.46
Major: Exercise science
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Junior Baldvin Magnusson
(Akureyri, Iceland-Hull University) made his presence known in his season debut at the Florida State XC Open, pacing the Eagles with a seventh-place finish in the 8K race with a time of 24:03.7, Sept. 17. For Magnusson, his 24:03.7 time against nationally-ranked teams is a three second improvement from his outing at the 2020 Mid-American Conference Cross Country Championships when he crossed the finish line in 24:06.7, Nov, 21.
Institution: Kent State
Name: Josh Gilkison
Sport: Golf
Position: N/A
Year: Graduate
GPA: 3.72
Major: Marketing
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Josh Gilkison earned MAC Golfer of the Week honors following his runner-up finish at the Gopher Invitational. Gilkison fired two rounds in the 60s and totaled an 8-under, 205 for the 54-hole tournament. The graduate student torched the par-5s, playing them at seven-under par. Highlighting his par-5 play was a double eagle two on the par-5 No. 12 after holing out with a seven-iron from 197 yards. He also played the par-4s at two under and par-3s at one over. All three marks were top-5 in the 75-player field.
Institution: Miami University
Name: Anthony Camerieri
Sport: Cross Country
Position: Runner
Year: Senior
GPA: 3.71
Major: Kinesiology
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Anthony Camerieri finished first at the All-Ohio Championships this past weekend, helping the RedHawks claim top honors in the six-team race. The senior finished with a time of 24:56.7 to capture medalist honors among the 40 runners.
Institution: NIU
Name: Nick Markanich
Sport: Soccer
Position: Forward
Year: Senior
GPA: 3.054
Major: Sociology
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Nick Markanich scored three goals in the opening 39 minutes Saturday night in NIU’s 6-0 win over Western Illinois. It was the first Huskie hat trick since 2002. Markanich has scored in five consecutive matches and is now seventh in program history with 69 career points (32 goals, five assists).
Institution: University of Toledo
Name: Mathew Chesum
Sport: Cross Country
Position: N/A
Year: Junior
GPA: 3.042
Major: Public Health
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Junior Mathew Chesum led Toledo with a sixth-place finish at Michigan State’s Spartan Invitational. He finished with a time of 24:58.8 in the 8K run to help the Rockets to a fourth-place team finish.
Other Female Nominees
Institution: Ball State
Name: Marie Plitt
Sport: Women’s Volleyball
Position: Middle
Year: Junior
GPA: 3.554
Major: Psychological Science
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Junior middle Marie Plitt turned in a solid weekend versus Northern Kentucky, leading the Ball State offense with a .395 (21-4-43) attack percentage to help the Cardinals earn a pair of wins … In Friday’s sweep of the Norse, Plitt smashed 10 kills and hit an impressive .563 (10-1-16), helping BSU to its second-best hitting mark of the young season at .299 … She followed with 11 kills and a .296 (11-3-27) rate of success in Saturday’s five-set thriller, including the match-winning kill … Overall, Plitt averaged 2.63 kills, 0.63 blocks, 0.50 digs and 0.13 aces per set in the series sweep of Northern Kentucky.
Institution: Buffalo
Name: Milla Malik
Sport: Volleyball
Position: Outside Hitter
Year: Sophomore
GPA: 3.279
Major: Computer Science
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Sophomore Milla Malik averaged 4.33 kills per set and had 60.5 points this past weekend as she helped lead the Bulls to a 2-1 record. Malik began the weekend with 22 kills in the win over Norfolk State, just one off her career high. She added 19 more kills in the win over Radford and had 11 against Old Dominion. In addition, she notched seven aces, including four against the Monarchs.
Institution: Eastern Michigan
Name: Grace Whitney
Sport: Tennis
Position: Doubles
Year: Redshirt Senior
GPA: 4.0
Major: Urban and Regional Planning
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Eastern Michigan University redshirt senior Grace Whitney had an impressive weekend on the courts as the Eagles opened their fall 2021 slate hosting the EMU Hidden Duals tournament in Ypsilanti. The team competed in matches against Bellarmine, Northern Kentucky, and Oakland. Whitney began the weekend with a dominant defeat of Bellarmine, 6-0, in doubles action. Whitney kept the momentum as she moved to her Saturday matches, where she and partner Luisa Pelayo made quick work of Oakland University, 6-2, and later Northern Kentucky, 6-2. With her impressive 3-0 weekend, Whitney is now 20-8 overall in two seasons with Eastern Michigan.
Institution: Kent State
Name: Sydney Washburn
Sport: Field Hockey
Position: Forward
Year: Junior
GPA: 3.672
Major: Psychology
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Sydney Washburn’s second goal of the day in the fifth minute of the second overtime period gave #23 Kent State a 3-2 victory over Ohio to begin MAC play on Friday. Washburn delivered the first goal of the game in the 12th minute by positioning herself to receive a pass across the box and netting a one-timer. With a little more than five minutes remaining in the second overtime, the junior was able to get her stick on a waist-level pass and redirect the ball into the net for the game-winner.
Institution: Miami University
Name: Allyson Severance
Sport: Volleyball
Position: Outside Hitter
Year: Junior
GPA: 3.88
Major: Accountancy
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Allyson Severance averaged 3.17 kps and hit a strong .341 as Miami rounded out non-conference play last week at Xavier and against Cincinnati ... Severance tied a career high with 14 kills in a four-set match with the Bearcats on Saturday to lead the RedHawks in kills ... Severance also served up an ace against Cincinnati and accounted for 15.0 to lead MU ... she hit an impressive .355 against UC and had a perfect 1.000 reception percentage ... at Xavier, Severance also hit over .300 with a .308 hitting percentage against the Musketeers while posting a .938 reception percentage ... for the week, Severance amassed 20.0 points (3.33 per set) to lead MU.
Institution: NIU
Name: Katelyn Robbins
Sport: Cross Country
Position:
Year: Redshirt-Sophomore
GPA: 3.783
Major: Nursing
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Katelyn Robbins was the top finisher for NIU Cross Country at last Friday’s Redbird Invite at Illinois State. Robbins covered the six-kilometer course in 22:33.1 to finish 41
st overall.
Institution: Ohio
Name: Sophia Hoersten
Sport: Cross Country
Position: Distance
Year: Sophomore
GPA: 3.94
Major: Studio Art
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Ohio sophomore Sophia Hoersten led Ohio at the All-Ohio Collegiate XC Championships on Friday. Overall, Hoersten placed 8
th with a time of 22:30.7, however, Hoersten’s time placed her in 5
th place overall in the Division I results. Her time helped the Bobcats finished in 4
th place, finishing just behind Miami, Akron and Dayton with 108 total points.
Institution: University of Toledo
Name: Ashton Cassel
Sport: Soccer
Position: Midfielder
Year: Senior
GPA: 4.000
Major: Nursing
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Senior Ashton Cassel scored the game-winning goal in Toledo’s 1-0 (OT) victory at Illinois State in the Rockets’ final non-conference match on Sunday. The victory gave Toledo a 5-1-2 record in non-conference play heading into the start of the MAC season. Cassel was also part of a strong defensive effort that saw Toledo limit the Redbirds to zero shots on goal.
