ESU Student-Athlete Academic Awards

EAST STROUDSBURG – Junior women's soccer player Lindsay Foder and redshirt junior football player Matt Freed both represent East Stroudsburg University on the PSAC Fall Top 10 list, it was announced Thursday morning by the conference office.

The selections of Foder (Saylorsburg/Pleasant Valley) and Freed (Souderton/Souderton) mark the third straight time that ESU has garnered multiple selections on the seasonal list of the top five men's and five women's student-athletes in the 16-school PSAC.

The Warriors had Chris Bach (men's basketball) and Jackie Yandrisevits (women's basketball) selected last winter and Bill Hezel (baseball), Kristen Morby (women's track & field) and Paul Wagner (men's track & field) mentioned last spring. ESU's five selections during the 2008-09 academic year were the most in the conference.

Foder, who has maintained a 4.0 grade-point average as a Speech Pathology major through last semester, and Freed, who has a 3.71 GPA as a History major, have been standout student-athletes since they arrived on campus. They were both honored as first team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District choices this fall, and Freed was named the fifth Academic All-American in the history of the ESU football program.

Foder was named first team All-PSAC East and third team NSCAA All-Region at forward this season and had seven goals and six assists while leading the Warriors to their third straight appearance in the PSAC tournament. She recorded her first career hat trick in a win over Chestnut Hill and scored two goals, including the game-winner, in a 4-2 win at nationally-ranked IUP.

ESU advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history in 2008 and Foder had two goals and two assists in the final three games of the season – the PSAC semifinal and two NCAA playoff games. She had nine goals and seven assists as a sophomore and has 18 career goals and 15 assists entering her senior season for the Warriors.

Freed's Top 10 selection is the latest in a line of awards for the Warriors' All-American linebacker. Along with his Academic All-America honor, he is a two-time first team Academic All-District selection and has been named to the Daktronics Division II All-America first team and AP Little All-America third team in each of the last two seasons.

Freed led the PSAC in tackles (132) and tackles for loss (18.0) and tied for the conference lead with 10 sacks this fall when ESU played in the NCAA Playoffs for the fourth time in school history. He also led the PSAC and was tied for sixth in Division II with 11.5 tackles per game in 2008. Freed was named the Daktronics Super Region One Defensive Player of the Year and is one of three Warriors, along with Jimmy Terwilliger and Evan Prall, to earn multiple AP Little All-America selections.

ESU's tradition of student-athletes includes 31 PSAC Top 10 selections since 1997-98 and 27 Academic All-Americans in school history, including four in the last calendar year. ESU has led the PSAC with 10 Academic All-District selections in each of the last two years.

The Top 10 award winners for each season are placed on the ballot for the Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, which will be announced following the spring season. One men's and one women's student-athlete will be selected to receive the PSAC's top scholar-athlete honor, which was renamed in 2008 to recognize the contributions of Pete Nevins, ESU's sports information director from 1969-2002.


2009 PSAC Fall Top 10 List

Men
Jeremy Deighton, Slippery Rock, soccer
Matt Freed, ESU, football
Trevor Harris, Edinboro, football
Chris Lantinen, Edinboro, cross country
Dan Latorre, Bloomsburg, football

Women
Jessica Bennett, West Chester, soccer
Mary Dell, Shippensburg, cross country
Lindsay Foder, ESU, soccer
Jen Harpp, Slippery Rock, cross country
Taylor Hilinski, Mercyhurst, soccer