Winthrop’s Jeremy Plexico and Coastal Carolina University’s Kara Koppel were named Men’s and Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year respectively by the Big South Conference today.
It is the second straight year the award has been presented to Koppel. She was also one of the recipients of this year’s Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence. A runner on both the Coastal Carolina Track and Field Teams and the CCU Cross Country team, Koppel was the 2002-03 Big South Scholar-Athlete in women’s cross country, women’s indoor and outdoor track and field. She was a First Team Verizon/CoSIDA Academic Track & Field/Cross Country All-American. She became the first-ever Coastal student to earn a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. She was named Big South Scholar-Athlete for Outdoor Track last season, and Scholar-Athlete for Women’s Indoor Track and Women’s Cross Country the last two years. In addition, she has been on Coastal’s President’s List for each of her four years.
Plexico, a senior pitcher on Winthrop’s baseball team, was the 2003 Baseball Scholar-Athlete. He compiled a two-year record of 21-8, including a 12-3 record in 2003 year as Winthrop's No. 1 starter. He led the Big South in victories with 10 and in complete games with six. He ranks among the school's career top 10 list in four categories, including wins, innings pitched, strikeouts and games started. Plexico received the 2003 Winthrop Senior Academic Award for compiling the highest GPA for a senior male athlete, was a 2002 Big South Conference Presidential Scholar, a recipient of a Life Scholarship, and a 2001-02 Winthrop Dean's List honoree.
“Both Jeremy and Kara exemplify what the Big South is about,” said Big South Commissioner Kyle B. Kallander. “They prove that it is possible to be a key contributor to a team while serving as an outstanding student and role model. We congratulate them both for their work as student-athletes and wish them success in their future endeavors.”
The men’s and women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year is voted on by the Big South sports information directors from a pool of each sport’s Scholar-Athlete winner. The nominees all must be at least a sophomore in standing, be significant a contributor to the team and have a grade point average of 3.0 or better.
The Big South, a NCAA Division I Conference, is celebrating 20 years of excellence in academics and athletics. Comprised of nine member institutions throughout the Southeast, the Big South continues to be a national leader both on the field through its 18 championship sports and in the classrooms of its nationally accredited members. Birmingham-Southern College, Charleston Southern University, Coastal Carolina University, High Point University, Liberty University, Radford University, UNC Asheville, Virginia Military Institute and Winthrop University comprise the 20-year-old-League, which is based in Charlotte, N.C. The Big South is online at www.BigSouthSports.com.
