LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – IUP women's swimmer
Paige Mikesell earned the highest academic honor the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference awards each year when she was named the 2020-21 Pete Nevins Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, announced by the league office Thursday afternoon.
The Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor is awarded annually to one male and one female student-athlete that performed exceptionally well in the classroom and in their field of competition. In order to be eligible, a student-athlete must be named to one of the PSAC Top 10 teams during the year, maintain above a 3.50 cumulative GPA and must be at least a sophomore in academic standing.
The award has been given by the PSAC office every year since 1991 and was renamed in 2007 to honor the legacy of former East Stroudsburg University sports information director, Pete Nevins, who served at ESU for 33 years. Nevins was one of the most decorated sports information directors in the country and since his passing in 2007 has had multiple awards named in his honor.
Mikesell shares the award with Samuel Hartman of Seton Hill track & field. They were selected by a vote of the league's sports information directors. Both were named to the Spring/Winter Top 12 team last week.
Mikesell continues to add to an incredibly successful year that includes several athletic and academic awards and honors. A Clearfield, Pa. native, she just finished up her junior year at IUP and boasts a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average as a health & physical education major. She put together arguably the best season by an IUP swimmer in program history, including the following highlights:
- National champion in the 200 freestyle with school record time of 1:48.36 at the 2021 NCAA Division II Championships
- Totaled seven All-American honors and five school records at NCAA championships
- Won seven titles (four individual, three relay) at 2021 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships
- PSAC Women's Swimmer of the Year; PSAC Championships Women's Most Outstanding Swimmer
- Led IUP to program's first conference championship since 1999
- Named IUP Women's Athlete of the Year; also received IUP Women's Performance of the Year and Postseason Performer of the Year awards
- CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large, CSCAA Scholar All-American, PSAC Spring/Winter Top 12
- IUP Student Athlete of the Month for March
Mikesell is the first IUP women's swimmer to be named PSAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and the sixth total from the school, in the award's history. Other winners include Natalie Cignetti (women's volleyball) in 2018, Laura Hall (women's volleyball) in 2002 and 2003, and Molly Carr (women's basketball/softball) in 1998 and 1999. IUP is the only school in the PSAC to have multiple two-time winners of the award.
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