NORTH ANDOVER, MA. – Seven Merrimack student-athletes were
named to the Northeast-10 Fall All-Academic Team.
Adam Holmes (Abington, MA), Jake Manning (Dunstable, MA),
J.D. Wild (Martha’s Vineyard, MA), Jennifer Conway (Douglas,
MA), Catie Hall (Westminster, MA), Kristin Applegate (Hampstead,
NH) and Ale Kuncaitis (Canton, MA) were
among 75 student-athletes that represented all 15 Northeast-10
schools.
To be eligible for selection, a student-athlete must have
participated in at least half of the team’s games, achieve a
cumulative 3.30 grade-point average, and completed at least one
academic year at the institution.
Holmes, a senior captain on the men’s cross country team, led
all Warrior runners at the Northeast-10 and New England
Championships. He is a history major with a 3.84 GPA.
Manning, a junior running back and wide receiver, rushed for 60
yards against Assumption College while catching 11 passes this
season. He maintains a 3.52 GPA as a business management major.
Wild, a senior linebacker and team captain, makes his second
straight appearance on the squad. Named the D2Football.com National
Defensive Player of the Week after forcing two fumbles against
Bryant, Wild tied for the team lead with 86 tackles. A political
science major, Wild has a 3.52 GPA.
Conway, a second-team NSCAA all-region athletic and academic
selection, was a first-team all-conference and first-team
Daktronics all-region honoree. An athletic training major and team
captain, Conway posted a 3.44 GPA while leading the women’s
soccer team to their second straight NCAA Tournament.
Hall, also a captain on the women’s soccer team, was an
Academic All-American for the third straight season and earned
all-conference and all-region honors in her final year as a
Warrior. A health science major with a 3.86 GPA, Hall, who moved
from forward to defensive midfield this season, became the first
Warrior to earn a scholarship to Boston College’s prestigious
nursing graduate program.
Applegate, a senior captain who is making her third straight
appearance on the All-Academic team, was second on the Warriors
with 63 blocks. She added 149 kills and hit .243, leading the
volleyball team to its first ever 20-win season and its second
straight NCAA Tournament and Northeast-10 Championship appearance.
An athletic training major, Applegate maintains a 3.76 GPA.
Kuncaitis, a two-time captain on the volleyball team, also makes
her third straight appearance on the All-Academic team. In her
final season at Merrimack, Kuncaitis, second on the team in kills
and digs, was a first-team all-conference selection this season and
a third-team honoree in 2007. A civil engineering major with a 3.76
GPA, she exits the program among the school’s all-time
leaders in attacks, kills and digs for a game, season and
career.
Bentley University and Stonehill College featured the most
student-athletes selection to the academic teams with ten each,
followed by UMass Lowell with nine.