13 Wildcats Named an America East Presidential Scholar-Athlete

BOSTON -- Thirteen University of New Hampshire student-athletes were named an America East Presidential Scholar-Athlete on Thursday in recognition of exemplary academic achievement through their college careers.

This year's distinguished Wildcats are: Colin Conery (Concord, N.H.), Kaitlyn Covell (Loudon, N.H.), Lauren Dean (Gilmanton Iron Works, N.H.), Victoria Dean (Laconia, N.H.), Ivy Gogolin, (Hopkinton, Mass.), Halle Hamilton (Londonderry, N.H.), Danielle Heine (Waverly, Pa.), Ciara McCormack (Newton, Mass.), Anna Metzler (Regensburg, Germany), Eleonora Olsmats (Djursholm, Sweden), Francesca Picicci (North Massapequa, N.Y.), Cate Wardinski (Burke, Va.) and Sarah Williams (Dover, N.H.).

A breakdown of the 13 'Cats by sport is: six women's track & field; three women's swimming and diving; two women's soccer; and one from both women's basketball and men's track & field; three track & field student-athletes -- Conery, Lauren Dean and Victoria Dean -- were also on their respective men's and women's cross country teams. Also of note, six Wildcats are New Hampshire natives.

The America East Presidential Scholar-Athlete Award recognizes graduating student-athletes who compiled a cumulative grade-point average of 3.75 or higher as an undergraduate, received an undergraduate degree in Spring 2022 and attended their institution for a minimum of two years.

All 13 Wildcats are also members of the National College Athlete Honor Society, Chi Alpha Sigma, which is comprised of junior and senior student-athletes who achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher and are of good moral character.

Conery graduated with a 3.78 GPA and a degree in Biomedical Science: Medical Microbiology. He ran a personal-best time in the 1,000-meter race in a dual meet vs. College of the Holy Cross on Jan. 22. At the 2022 America East Indoor Track & Field Championships, Conery ran a leg in the runner-up 4x800m relay as well as the fourth-place distance medley relay.

Covell earned a Nursing degree with a 3.78 GPA. In the 2022 indoor season, she ran a personal-best time of 48.94 seconds in the 300-meter run. And then in the outdoor season, Covell recorded a personal best in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:21.35.

Lauren Dean also graduated with a Nursing degree and finished with a 3.88 GPA. She recorded three of her four personal-best times this past year in the indoor season and she recorded points in three events spanning the indoor and outdoor conference championships. At the 2022 indoor meet, Dean placed third in the 5,000m with a time of 17:17.08; she also took sixth place in the 3,000m. And then at the America East outdoor championship meet, Dean finished seventh in the 10,000m with a personal-best 37:51.94.

Victoria Dean recorded a 3.78 GPA in pursuit of an Arts: Art History degree, and she broke four personal benchmarks this past year in the track seasons. The first PR to fall was the 1,000m in January, followed by the 3,000m in February. In the outdoor track & field season, she ran a personal best in the 1,500m in the first of two UNH home meets and then ran her fastest time in the 5,000m at UMass Lowell.

Gogolin, who earned a Business Administration : Analytics and Management degree with a 3.89 GPA, was named the America East Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and to the All-Conference Third Team as a junior in 2021. She was voted to the America East All-Academic Team that year and was a repeat selection in 2022. This past season, Gogolin played in 26 of 28 games with 22 starts; she ranked second on the team in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, field goals made, and free throws made and attempted.

Hamilton graduated with a degree in Nursing and a 3.88 GPA. She played in three games – all off the bench – as a senior this past fall. Last spring, she played and started one game.

Heine completed her English degree in just three years with a 3.96 GPA. She earned a bronze medal in the pole vault at the 2022 America East Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a third-place effort of 11 feet, 7.75 inches. Heine had placed fourth by clearing a height of 11-5.75 at the conference indoor championship meet. One week before that, she recorded a personal best by clearing 12-0. Heine opened the 2021-22 indoor season with a pair of runner-up finishes and had one other second-place effort in the indoor season.

McCormack had a 3.93 GPA in pursuit of a Social Work degree. At the 2022 America East Swimming & Diving Championships, she earned points for the Wildcats with a fifth-place finish in the 1,650 freestyle. She also competed in both the 500 free (13^th place) and 200 free (15^th).

Metzler, who graduated with a degree in Biomedical Science: Medical Lab Science with a 3.95 GPA, was named the 2022 America East Women's Swimming & Diving Scholar-Athlete of the year to mark the third consecutive year she received that accolade. She was voted to the America East All-Academic Team in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Metzler also qualified for the NCAA championships for the third consecutive year and competed in three events. She was recently named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large Team. At the 2022 conference championship meet, Metzler won the 200 individual medley and 200 butterfly; she was also runner-up in the 200 backstroke and was part of four runner-up relay teams.

Olsmats finished her Engineering Physics degree with a 3.93 GPA. She was also a letterwinner on the ski team as a Nordic skier.

Picicci completed her Exercise Science degree with a 3.76 GPA. She was named to the America East All-Conference First Team in 2021 and then was selected to the All-Championship Team as well as the NEWISA Senior Bowl. Picicci was also voted to the America East All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year in 2021. As co-captain of the '21 Wildcats, she started all 17 games in which she played. Picicci led UNH in both goals and points as well shooting percentage and game-winning goals. On the America East leaderboard, she tied at #4 in goals and tied at #7 in goals per game, was #9 in points and #10 in points per game.

Wardinski, who had a 3.97 GPA in pursuit of a Marine, Estuarine & Freshwater Biology degree, earned a silver medal with a second-place finish in the 50 freestyle at the 2022 America East Championships; she also scored points in the 100 free with a fifth-place effort. Wardinski was part of three UNH relays (200 medley, 200 free, 400 free) that took second place. She was the 2022 Elite 18 Award recipient and was named to the All-Academic Team three times (2020, 2021, 2022).

Williams completed her Human Development & Family Studies degree with a 3.96 GPA. She won a total of eight events spanning the 2021-22 indoor and outdoor track & field seasons; the first came in the shot put against Maine in the indoor opener. Williams went on to win the bronze medal with a personal-best and third place-mark of 61 feet, 7.5 inches at the America East indoor championships. She threw the hammer a personal best of 181-0 the last weekend of April and then recorded fourth place in both the hammer and shot put at the conference championships.

The Presidential Scholar-Athlete Award was approved by the America East Board of Presidents in June 2013 and implemented in the 2013-14 academic year. Since then, a total of 683 elite student-athletes have been honored as part of the program, including a record-tying 121 this year; there were also 121 honorees last year.

America East conference press release

Name	Sport	Degree	GPA
Colin Conery	Men's Cross Country Men's Track & Field	Biomedical Science: Medical Microbiology	3.78
Kaitlyn Covell	Women's Track & Field	Nursing	3.78
Lauren Dean	Women's Cross Country Women's Track & Field	Nursing	3.88
Victoria Dean	Women's Cross Country Women's Track & Field	Arts: Art History	3.78
Ivy Gogolin	Women's Basketball	Business Administration: Analytics and Management	3.89
Halle Hamilton	Women's Soccer	Nursing	3.88
Danielle Heine	Women's Track & Field	English	3.96
Ciara McCormack	Swimming & Diving	Social Work	3.93
Anna Metzler	Swimming & Diving	Biomedical Sciences: Medical Lab Science	3.95
Eleonora Olsmats	Women's Track & Field	Engineering Physics	3.93
Francesca Picicci	Women's Soccer	Exercise Science	3.76
Cate Wardinski	Swimming & Diving	Marine, Estuarine & Freshwater Biology	3.97
Sarah Williams	Women's Track & Field	Human Development & Family Studies	3.96

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