Hartford Hawks Athletics – The Hawks have three scholarship athletes named America East

WEST HARTFORD, Connecticut – University of Hartford senior volleyball Megan Andersonjunior men’s basketball Hunter Marks and senior baseball John thrasher were named America East Scholar Athletes for the 2020-21 season, as announced by the league office on Wednesday. The Hawk Trio are three of 16 honored student-athletes representing the sporting complement of the conference. The Scholar Athlete Award honors students for their achievement in the classroom as well as in the field or in the field.

A biology graduate with a cumulative GPA of 3.99, Anderson is a three-time America East All-Academic Laureate. In 2018, she was a selection of CoSIDA Google Cloud’s Third All-America Academic Team and won CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-District 1 First Team honors. She was also named the Presidential Athlete-Scholar of the East America last month.
A two-time All-Conference second-team member who has recorded more than 40 assists in four games this season, Anderson’s 10.5 assists per set placed second in Eastern America. Anderson ranks third all-time in the Hartford rally record book for career assists (2,820) and first ace on service (59).

A graduate in Entrepreneurial Studies with a GPA of 3.81, Marks is a two-time America East All-Academic Laureate and a two-time member of the America East Commissioner’s Honor Roll. He was also named East American Presidential Athlete-Scholar last month.

On the court, Marks was the center of the Hawks’ run at their first-ever America East Championship in March. He achieved the team’s top three doubles doubles in 2020-2021, leading the team in minutes per game (35.0) and total blocks (16), while his 9.5 points per game was the fifth tallest in the team.

A finance graduate with a cumulative GPA of 3.57, Thrasher was named to the America East Commissioner’s Honor Roll in 2020.

On the court, Thrasher won America East Player of the Year honors, All-Conference First Team honors and ABCA All-Region Second Team honors last season. Hailing from Ridgefield, Connecticut, Thrasher has enjoyed a breakout campaign for the Hawks at home, placing first in Eastern America in batting average (0.369), hit percentage (0.680), based percentage (0.470), races per game (1.03) and stolen bases (37). He led the nation in stolen goals per game (1.03), while his 37 strokes were third in the nation.

Thrasher has put his name atop Hartford’s record books this season. His 37 stolen bases in 2021 are the most recorded in a single season, while his 69 career shots are also a program record.

Nominees were proposed by their institution, which could nominate up to one student-athlete per sport, and then voted on by the conference’s student-athlete engagement committee. Each America East athlete-scholar was a planned starter or top reserve and has a minimum GPA of 3.50.

Athletic scholar-athletes are automatically eligible for the East American Female or Male College Athlete of the Year awards, which will be announced in July.

America East prides itself on having one of the most comprehensive academic awards programs in the country, which honors more than two-thirds of its student-athletes for their achievement in the classroom.