General | July 10, 2019

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Twelve Western Michigan student-athletes from five spring sports have been named Mid-American Conference Distinguished Scholar Athletes, as voted upon by the faculty athletic representatives at MAC institutions.

The MAC Distinguished Scholar honor represents the 'best of the best' from each sports Academic All-MAC Teams. The Distinguished Scholar Athlete is an award in its fifth year given to students who have excelled in athletics and academics.  Following each season from the spring sports schedule, any student with a 3.20 GPA and participation in at least 50 percent of the contests was automatically named to the previously announced Academic All-MAC Team from each sport.  Also, first-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence were not eligible for the award.

Sarah Anderson (3.50, exercise science), Erin Dowd (3.65, chemical engineering) and Allison Hufnagel (3.91, film/video & media studies) represented the track and field team and were all repeats honorees from the previous outdoor season. Lenhard Haupt (3.97, finance) and Jannik Opitz (4.00, accountancy) earned the honors for the men's tennis team, with Opitz repeating from last season. Kaylen Glenfield (3.98, business) and Sydney Stefanick (3.57, exercise science) of the softball team were named MAC Distinguished Scholars for the first time in their careers.

Senior Denise Azcui (3.94, industrial & entrepreneurial engineering) of the women's tennis team earned MAC Distinguished Scholar honors for the third time in her career and was joined by her teammate Melina Lyubomirova (3.67, management). Jesse Forestell (3.73, marketing), Andrew Stone (3.67, sports management) and Jack Szott (3.94, accounting) represented the baseball program. All three were repeat honors, with Szott, a redshirt junior, earning it for the third time in his career.