ST LOUIS. – The Drake University men's soccer team had five student-athletes named to the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete First Team, the league office announced
Monday morning.
Senior
Alec Bartlett (Overland Park, Kan.) along with juniors
James Grunert (Muskego, Wis.),
Ben LeMay (Hugo, Minn.),
Mueng Sunday (Coralville, Iowa) and
James Wypych (Wellington, New Zealand) were each named to the first team as Drake finished with a league-best five scholar-athlete selections.
Bartlett, a MVC first team scholar-athlete honoree in 2014, finished the season with two goals, including knocking in the first goal in Drake's 2-1 win over Kentucky in the opening round of the NCAA Championship last week. Bartlett, a CoSIDA All-District pick in 2015, holds a 3.51 grade point average in biology.
Grunert, a MVC scholar-athlete honorable mention selection in 2014, scored three goals this season, including the game winner against Kentucky. Grunert joined Bartlett on the CoSIDA All-District team this season, and he holds a 3.74 GPA in health sciences.
This is the first career MVC scholar-athlete award for LeMay, who scored three goals and handed out four assists this year. LeMay, also a CoSIDA All-District honoree, holds a 3.82 GPA in pharmacy.
Sunday earned his first career MVC scholar-athlete accolade after leading the team in assists with seven this season.
Sunday, who suffered a season-ending injury in the MVC Tournament semifinal against Bradley, also scored one goal in 2015.
Sunday holds a 3.68 GPA in finance.
Wypych, also a CoSIDA All-District selection in 2015, led Drake with seven goals in 2015. The Wellington, New Zealand, native transferred to Drake from New Mexico in 2014 and holds a 3.69 GPA in international business.
Drake finished the 2015 with a 13-5-3 overall record and its first NCAA Championship appearance since 2009.
The criteria for the all-MVC honor parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average (on a 4.00 scale). Also, students must have participated in at least 75 percent of the regular-season matches or played in the league tournament. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.
