This past week, from April 2 to April 8, the NCAA celebrated Division III Week, in which Division III athletes are recognized across the country for their academic, athletic and community service efforts. As part of the Division III Identity Initiative that has been ongoing since 2010, the NCAA and all of its participating schools explore why athletes participate in Division III athletics and what teams and individuals are doing to better their campus communities. Every conference and school acknowledges certain athletes and teams that have taken an initiative to better themselves in the classroom, on the playing field and contribute to the betterment of their campus communities overall. That being said, several Behrend individuals and teams were honored during this past week.

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At the start of the week, the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference announced their selections for the All-Sportsmanship team. These athletes, all from winter sports, were selected by their teammates and have demonstrated greater than adequate sportsmanship to their fellow athletes, officials, coaches and even opposing coaches, during practice, competition and in spectating other sports. In total, five Behrend athletes were chosen to be a part of this team.  Hali Hartley, Mike Fischer, Kourtney Beamesderfer, Gwendolyn Lowry and Ryan Elsey all earned honors of being named to this team.

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The next day, the AMCC announced its selections for the Team Peak Performer Award, which was given out across all sports. Clocking in with the highest cumulative GPA in the AMCC conference at 3.182 last semester, the Behrend men’s soccer team was chosen to receive this award. The men’s soccer team was the only Behrend team to receive this award, while conference rival Penn State Altoona led the pack with four. In addition, the highest cumulative GPA among an AMCC team was 3.668, obtained by the Hilbert Hawks women’s cross country team.

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On the third day of Division III Week, the Behrend Athletic Department identified their Academic All-Conference selections, Peak Performers and Chi Alpha Sigma inductees. For an Academic All-Conference selection, a student-athlete must obtain a GPA of at least 3.2, while those at a 3.5 or above are considered for Peak Performer status. Over 130 Behrend varsity athletes earned Academic All-Conference honors and 65 of these athletes were dubbed Peak Performers. 30 select athletes from Behrend were selected for induction into Chi Alpha Sigma, which is essentially the NCAA’s Honor Society for athletes with high academic achievement. Among those athletes were Rachel Frye, Phil Myers, Rachel Pell, Erika Woll, Olivia Belack and Michael Funera. The full list of inductees can be viewed on psblions.com.

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The week was rounded out by those that conducted community altering service projects in their region were recognized by the NCAA. This past fall, the women’s soccer team arranged for fans to pledge a sum of money for every goal scored in their regular season games to Grady’s Decision. Grady’s Decision is a local non-profit focused on helping children with birth defects who need outside medical assistance and those children who were born prematurely. For raising almost $6,000 toward their cause, the team was given the Silver Award for One-Time Events by the AMCC.