West Babylon, N.Y. - On Thursday morning, the East Coast Conference announced its Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year, as well as the Scholar-Athletes of the Year for each of its championship sports for the 2022-23 season.
Simoné Pärn (Pärnu, Estonia), a Biology medicine graduate student and a member of the District of Columbia women’s tennis team, has been named the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year after posting a perfect 4.0 GPA during both her undergraduate and graduate studies. On the court, Pärn helped lead the Firebirds to a second straight appearance in the NCAA Championship and earned the fourth All-Conference First Team selection of her career after finishing with a 14-6 record at No. 1 singles.
Mercy baseball standout Nolan Giblin (Syracuse, N.Y.) was named the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. A senior Finance major with a 3.92 GPA, Giblin was a First Team All-Conference selection at third base for the Mavericks during the 2023 campaign. He finished the year with a .326 batting average to go along with 15 extra-base hits (9 doubles, 4 triples, 2 homeruns) and 33 runs batted in. His totals of 62 hits and four triples both ranked within the top 10 in the ECC.
Giblin and Pärn were also named the Scholar-Athlete of the Year for their respective sports.
All ECC Scholar-Athlete of the Year recipients hold at least a 3.30 GPA, are a starter or key reserve, and have reached at least sophomore standing both athletically and academically.
2022-23 ECC Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Men's Basketball – Garrett Kirkland, Mercy: Kirkland, a senior Business major with a 3.90 GPA, earns the honor after contributing 8.1 points per game and ranking 11th in the ECC with 41 made three pointers on the ECC.
Women's Basketball – Sarah Ericson, St. Thomas Aquinas: Ericson caps off a phenomenal year with the Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor. Also the ECC Player of the Year, Ericson helped the Spartans finish as the ECC runner-up and earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Championship by stuffing the stat sheet with 12.5 points. 9.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. In the classroom, the sophomore Communication Arts major holds a 3.82 GPA.
Women's Bowling – Samantha Schurr, Mercyhurst: Schurr, a senior Environmental Science major with a 3.70 GPA, helped the Lakers to their first-ever ECC Championship. Schur was also a Second Team All-Conference selection with a 17.93 overall frame average, good for 11th in the conference.
Men’s Cross Country – Aiden Watson, Molloy: Watson, a sophomore Environmental Studies major with a 3.72 GPA, finished eighth at the ECC Championship to earn Second Team All-Conference honors.
Women’s Cross Country – Acacia Barber, Roberts Wesleyan: Barber, a sophomore exercise science major with a 3.86 GPA, helped Roberts claim their eighth straight conference title with a third place finish at the ECC Championship.
Men’s Indoor Track & Field – Jan Volkmar, Georgian Court: Volkmar was the ECC Champion in the pole vault (4.80m) and finished third in long jump (6.61m) and shot put (13.97m). Off the track, the sophomore holds a 3.97 GPA as a Psychology major.
Women’s Indoor Track & Field – Shania Le Maitre, Holy Family: Le Maitre repeats as the Women’s Indoor Track & Field honoree after finishing as the ECC Champion in the 800m (2:17.14), 4x400 (3:54.68), and distance medley relay (12:43.59). The senior Biology major has compiled a 3.97 GPA.
Men’s Lacrosse – Jack Kipnes, Mercy & Carnell Lofton, Jr., Dist. Columbia: Kipnes shares the Men’s Lacrosse after also winning the award in 2022. After graduating with a 3.82 GPA as a Business Administration major, he moved on to graduate school as an Organizational Leadership major, posting a 3.97 GPA. The USILA Third Team All-American helped Mercy claim the ECC title by scooping up 45 ground balls and causing 14 turnovers.
Sharing the award is Lofton, Jr., a senior finance major with a perfect 4.0 GPA. He earned Second Team All-ECC accolades after leading the conference with 151 ground balls and finishing second with 204 wins at the faceoff x.
Women’s Lacrosse – Joanna Mauceri, Molloy & Lindsey Shimborske, Mercy: Mauceri shares the award after compiling a 3.82 GPA in her undergrad studies and a 3.89 GPA in graduate school as a Childhood Education-English/Special Education major. On the field, she was a First Team All-Conference selection after scoring 27 points on 18 goals and nine assists, while also winning 56 draw controls. A two-sport athlete, Mauceri also earned All-Conference Second Team honors in soccer, as well.
Sharing the award is Shimborske, the ECC Defender of the Year and sophomore with a 3.98 GPA as a Health Science/Physical Therapy major. She led the ECC with 55 ground balls and 55 caused turnovers, while also ranking third with 83 draw controls. An IWLCA All-America Second Team selection, Shimborske ranked fourth nationally in caused turnovers per game.
Men’s Outdoor Track and Field – Erik Matthews, Daemen: Matthews claims the Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor for the third straight year. Matthews was the ECC Champion in the 110m hurdles (15.94) and finished second in the 400m hurdles (56.23). Academically, the Physical Therapy major held GPAs of 3.98 as an undergrad and 3.88 as a graduate student.
Women’s Outdoor Track and Field – Camryn Bailey, Daemen: Bailey, a junior Natural Science-Health Science/Physical Therapy major with a 3.99 GPA, is the Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Bailey helped the Wildcats win the 4x800 at the ECC Championship (10:01.69), while also earning All-Conference honors with a fourth place finish in the 1500m (5:02.67) and a second place run in the 5000m (18:35.98).
Men’s Soccer – Nick Conklu, Molloy & Eirik Elvestad, Mercy: For the second time this season, Conklu and Elvestad share an award after both also claimed the ECC Goalkeeper of the Year honor.
Conklu, a Criminal Justice major with a 3.61 undergraduate and a 3.97 graduate GPA, helped the Lions to an ECC Regular Season Championship with 76 saves and a .792 save percentage.
Elvestad, a sophomore Business Management major with a 3.97 GPA, helped Mercy capture an ECC Championship with 64 saves and a .790 save percentage.
Women’s Soccer – Nikki Bermudez, Mercy: The ECC Offensive Player of the Year and D2CCA Third Team All-American after scoring nine goals and adding seven assists for 25 points, Bermudez now adds Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year to her trophy case. She finished her undergraduate work as a Psychology major with a 3.7 GPA, before moving on to graduate school as a Human Resource Management major where she added a 3.92 GPA.
Softball – Sydney Johnston, Mercy: Johnston, a senior with a 3.975 GPA as a Communications Disorders major, was named a First Team All-Conference selection after hitting .288 with 14 extra-base hits and 31 RBI.
Men’s Tennis – Moritz Borges, Queens: Borges holds a 3.9 GPA as a graduate Economics major. On the court, Borges went 12-3 in singles and 22-7 in doubles to help the Knights win the ECC Championship. In doubles, he advanced to the final of the ITA East Region tournament and earned an at-large bid to the ITA Cup National Championship, which helped the pair climb as high as No. 9 in the ITA national rankings.
Volleyball – Maggie Burns, Daemen & Larissa Schneid, Mercy: Burns earns a share of the award after also earning the ECC Player of the Year honor. She finished the year with 233 kills, 226 digs, and 24 service aces as the Wildcats repeated as ECC Champions. In the classroom, the senior Adolescence Education – Students with Disabilities/Special Education major holds a 3.73 GPA.
Schneid repeats as the award winner after maintaining a perfect 4.0 as a senior Biology major. Schneid was an All-Conference First Team honoree for the second year in a row after accumulating 196 kills on a .190 hitting percentage to go along with 168 digs.
ECC Academic Success Rate Award
Mercy was awarded the ECC Academic Success Rate Award. The Mavericks earned the honor for the fifth year in a row after posting a 93 percent graduation success rate in the NCAA Academic Tracking System.
