Westfield State's Sypek Named Capital One Academic All-American
Westfield State senior midfielder Sarah Sypek has been named to the Capital One Academic All-America ® team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Courtesy of Westfield State Sports Information
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior
midfielder Sarah
Sypek (Hampshire Regional/Westhampton, Mass.) has been
named to the Capital One Academic All-America ® team
selected by the College Sports Information Directors of
America.
The elite team recognizes student-athletes who excel both on the
field and in the classroom.
Sypek had a record-breaking season for the Owls while helping lead
the team to 13 wins and the semifinals of the ECAC New England
playoffs. She finished the season with 21 goals and eight assists
for 50 points, setting school records for goals and points in a
season. She was a first-team All-Massachusetts State Collegiate
Athletic Conference pick as a midfielder.
In the classroom, the Westhampton, Mass. native has maintained a
3.77 grade point average in business administration while playing
soccer and working nearly full-time hours between two jobs.
Originally an elementary education major at Westfield State, Sypek
changed her major and focus to business administration while
working two part-time jobs to help finance her education.
"She's really a role model for our players," said Westfield State
head coach Todd
Ditmar. "She works full time, she's doing so well in
her classes and playing soccer. She is very disciplined. I have
already spoken with her about possibly staying on to coach with us
after she graduates."
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a
student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain
a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached
sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current
institution and be nominated by his/her sports information
director.
The student-athletes who are named to one of eight regional
Academic All-District first teams advance to the COSIDA/Capital One
Academic All-America® ballot for national award
consideration.
Sypek was part of the District I squad that encompasses NCAA
Division III colleges in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and
Maine.
Sypek was selected to the national squad alongside student-athletes
from Johns Hopkins, Trinity College and Rose-Hulman Institute.
"It's a tremendous honor to be named to the Academic All-America
team," said Westfield State Director of Athletics Richard Lenfest. "If you consider that
Sarah was selected among student-athletes from the more than 400
schools that play women's soccer at the NCAA Division III level,
that's a pool of almost 10,000 student athletes from which the
Academic All-America team is selected."
"It is a real credit to her hard work both as a student, and a
soccer player to be named to this prestigious team." She has
been a terrific leader and representative of Westfield State
University."
A total of 33 players nationwide are selected the Capital One
Academic All-America team; 11 on each of the first-, second- and
third teams.
Sypek led a Westfield State team has posted a 13-6-2 overall
record and a 5-1-1 mark in the MASCAC. The owls placed second in
the MASCAC regular season standings, and lost in the MASCAC
tournament championship game to Worcester State by a 1-0
score. The Owls were selected for the ECAC New England
Tournament and advanced to the semifinals by beating Wentworth
before falling at the University of New England.
"It's an outstanding achievement," said Ditmar. "I have never
had a student who excelled academically and athletically as Sarah
did. I think it's an outstanding achievement to cap her
career."
"It's pretty amazing how she does it – working, coming
to practice, and getting the grades that she does. She never let it
affect her on the field at all," said Ditmar.
A defender in high school, Sypek has been an all-conference
selection in each of her four years with the Owls. She played
defense as a freshman and gradually moved forward to become a
record-breaking scoring threat.
"When she came in as a freshman, she changed our team –
we stopped opposing players," said Ditmar. "Gradually we let her
creep up the field. Our mindset was how to get her more involved,
this year as an attacking midfielder and a little at forward, to
figure how to get the ball to Sarah more. It was
amazing how she scored this year – she just did it –
probably a once- in-a lifetime athlete that you get to coach.
. I know how good she was defensively – I always had
confidence in her but never knew she would be as good as she was
this year."
"It makes you want to cry as a head coach to graduate a
player like Sarah," added Ditmar.
Sypek becomes only the sixth Owl to earn the distinguished
honor since the Academic All-America program began in 1982.
Softball player Lisa Liebecki was honored in both 1986 and 1987,
men's basketball player George Bent in 1987 and softball player
Cheryl Bassett in 1988 . The Owls have now had three athletes
honored since 2011; Rachel Dionne for lacrosse in 2011, Amanda
Gricus for track and field in 2012, and now Sarah Sypek.