ESU Academic Awards page

EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University field hockey seniors Emily Howell and Danielle Ard have been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America women's at-large team for the 2016-17 academic year, it was released Wednesday.

Howell was named to the second team, and Ard earned a spot on the third team. They are the fourth and fifth ESU field hockey players named Academic All-America, and the 45th and 46th student-athletes honored in school history.

Howell (Bangor, Pa./Bangor), a Health and Physical Education major with a 3.85 grade-point average through fall 2016, was a two-time NFHCA All-America first team selection, the 2016 PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Year and the Synapse Sports DII Defensive Athlete of the Year.

She was recognized as the DII field hockey selection for the Honda Broderick Award, which honors academic and athletic achievement, and is a two-time PSAC Top 10 recipient.

She earned her first Academic All-District honor last month.

Howell was a leader of two NCAA Tournament teams, including the 2015 NCAA DII championship squad, and was the 2015 PSAC Tournament MVP in helping the Warriors to their first-ever PSAC and NCAA DII championships.

She was also a two-year president of ESU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Howell was a three-year starter, the last two seasons at back following one in the midfield, and started all 42 games the last two years - contributing 10 goals and seven assists, while leading a defense that allowed just 33 goals.

Ard (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg), a Biology major with a 3.88 GPA through the fall 2016 semester, started all 20 goals in goal for ESU's PSAC regular season championship and NCAA Tournament team.

She had a 0.80 goals against average, 66 saves and a .815 save percentage as a senior, helping ESU post a 15-5 record. She was a three-year starter in goal for the Warriors, including ESU's first-ever PSAC and NCAA Division II championship team in 2015.

Ard made 63 career starts, notching a 45-18 record, and had a 0.80 goals against average in both of her final two seasons. ESU was 34-8 combined in 2015 and 2016, including 17 games as the No. 1-ranked team in DII.

She ranks third at ESU with 21 career shutouts, including 15 solo shutouts.

Howell and Ard join Michelle Knapik (1987), Katie Horst (1997-99) and Ally Roth (2016) as Academic All-America selections for ESU's field hockey program.

Their selections give ESU five Academic All-America recipients so far this academic year, along with seniors Hannah Gombos and Andrea Polanco (women's soccer) and redshirt junior Devon Ackerman (football).

Graduate student Alex Zubko, a two-time Academic All-America selection in men's track and field/cross country, is on the national ballot for consideration later this month.


About the Academic All-District and Academic All-America program
 
The Academic All-District and Academic All-America teams recognize student-athletes for athletic and academic achievements and are nominated and voted on by members of CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America).

ESU is tied for second in the PSAC with 103 Academic All-District selections in the last 10 years (2007-08 through 2016-17), and tied for third with 36 Academic All-America selections over the last nine years (2007-08 through 2015-16).
 
ESU had eight Academic All-District selections this academic year - Ard and Howell (field hockey), graduate student Alex Zubko (men's track & field/cross country), redshirt junior offensive lineman Devon Ackerman (football), junior midfielder Christian Bukowski (men's soccer), and senior midfielder Shea Neal, senior back Hannah Gombos and senior back Andrea Polanco (women's soccer).
 
Five Warriors have been named Academic All-America so far this year - Howell, Ard, Ackerman (1st team), Polanco (2nd team) and Gombos (3rd team).
 
ESU's eight Academic All-District honorees this academic year rank in the top five in the PSAC - continuing a stretch of ranking in the top five (of the PSAC's 18 schools) for the 10th straight year. The Warriors led the conference with 12 selections in 2015-16.
 
This marks the sixth year that separate teams have been selected for Division II, Division III and College Division (NAIA/Canadian schools/two-year schools) institutions. The previous "College Division" included all DII, DIII, Canadian and junior college programs.

District 2 of Division II follows the NCAA's regional model and includes all schools from the PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference), Mountain East Conference and CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association). The Northeast-10 Conference is also included in the region for football.
 
Including this year, ESU has had 46 student-athletes combine for 64 Academic All-America awards in school history, with 30 student-athletes combining for 41 awards in the last nine years.
 
At the district level, 97 ESU student-athletes have combined for 144 Academic All-District selections.