Andrea Wasuk - MASCAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year
Westfield State College senior basketball standout Andrea Wasuk (Lenox, Mass.) has been selected the Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference’s Howard C. Smith Female Scholar-Athlete of the year.
The prestigious award is presented annually to male and female senior student-athletes who have excelled both academically and athletically while a student of a Massachusetts state college. The award is named in honor of Howard C. Smith, a former state college trustee who was largely responsible for the formation of the Massachusetts State College Athletics Conference (MASCAC) and the acceptance of intercollegiate athletics as an integral part of the state college system.
To be considered for the award, a student-athlete must have achieved a least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average and be in his or her last year of athletic eligibility. Bridgewater State football player Justin Lima (Mashpee, Mass.) an all-star offensive lineman, was selected the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in voting conducted by the MASCAC athletics directors.
Wasuk graduated in May with a cumulative grade point average of 3.77 while majoring in business, with an accounting concentration. She was named the 2009 Westfield State College athletics department Female Scholar-Athlete of the year for maintaining the highest cumulative grade point average of a graduating senior athlete. In addition, she was selected to the ESPN the Magazine college sports information directors of Amierca (CoSIDA) District I All-Academic first team.
On the court, the 5-9 forward was the 2009 MASCAC Player of the year as she led the women's basketball team to the conference regular season and tournament championships, along with a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Her team posted a 22-5 record in 2009 for her sport’s best winning percentage in school history.
Wasuk was an All America honorable mention selection and first-team All New England selection. Also, she was a three-time all-conference selection and received her team’s most valuable player award the past three years.
Wasuk finished her collegiate career with 1,373 points, which ranks third on the Owls' all-time scoring list.
"There may be more talented players but nobody works harder than Andrea," said Westfield State women's basketball head coach Andrea Bertini.
"We are extremely proud of Andrea's performances both academically and athletically," said Westfield State athletics director Richard Lenfest. "There are many outstanding scholar-athletes at Westfield State and in the MASCAC and for Andrea to be selected the best is an impressive accomplishment."
Wasuk is the 14th Westfield State College student-athlete to receive the Howard C. Smith award since its inception in 1980. Westfield’s 14 scholar-athlete honorees are the most in the eight-team conference, followed by Fitchburg State with 11.