Ferchland, Leun and Mascia Nab Skyline Scholar-Athlete of the Year Honors
Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)
New York, NY| Seniors Megan Leun (softball), Heather Ferchland (women's lax) and Brianna Mascia (women's lax) all received Skyline Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors in their respective sports on Thursday, as announced on the conference's website. Ferchland and Mascia shared the honor with Purchase's Nathalie Lavelanet and Samantha Rich and were named Co-Scholar-Athletes of the Year for women's lacrosse.
Scholar-Athlete of the Year is awarded to the All-Conference First-Team selection with the highest GPA in each winter/spring Skyline-sponsored sport. In Leun and Ferchland/Mascia, St. Joseph's College (L.I.) claims the honor in two of the six spring sports.
"I'm extremely proud of Heather, Briana and Megan for being honored as Skyline Conference Scholar Athletes," said SJC Assistant Vice President & Senior Director of Athletics & Recreation Shantey Hill. "It takes an incredible amount of dedication and commitment to be a student-athlete and these ladies, all of which participate in more than one sport, have managed to do very well. The entire SJC community congratulates them on their academic excellence."
Leun nabbed her first-ever Skyline All-Conference First-Team selection in 2016 after posting a .349 batting average and driving in 23 runs on the season. The first baseman would finish second on the team in both doubles (10) and putouts (136) and, additionally, posted a career-best fielding percentage of .966. The Hauppauge, NY wraps her SJC career fourth in games played since 2005.
In the final season of her storied St. Joseph's career, Ferchland appeared on the Skyline First-Team for the fourth time in addition to being named Co-Offensive Player of the Year for the first time. In 19 games the Selden, NY native went for 50 goals, 62 points, 61 ground balls, 74 draw controls, and 42 caused turnovers while finishing third in the conference in caused turnovers/game (2.21) and fourth in ground balls/game (3.21). A three-time 60 goal scorer, Ferchland graduates as the program's all-time leader in points (282), goals (241) and shots (460); second all-time in draw controls (201); and third all-time in ground balls (142) and caused turnovers (112).
Along with Ferchland, Mascia helped lead the SJC women's lacrosse team to its second-straight conference championship and was rewarded with her first All-Conference First-Team selection in 2016. Mascia would wrap the season second among St. Joseph's defenders in both caused turnovers (27) and ground balls (24). One of three seniors manning the backline, Mascia anchored a SJC defense that finished first in the conference in goals-against average (8.73) and caused turnovers/game (14.05).
