CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Bucknell senior Zack Rockmore was announced on Wednesday as the 2016 Corvias Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year and one of the 11 student-athletes on the sport’s Academic All-Patriot League team. The selection process was conducted by the League’s men’s soccer sports information directors, who could not vote for their own student-athletes.
Seven of the 10 member institutions were represented by one athlete -- American, Army West Point, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, and Navy – while Bucknell and Loyola Maryland each had two.
Rockmore, who was named to the Patriot League first team on Monday, earns the second-straight Scholar-Athlete honor for Bucknell and becomes the fourth Bison to receive the award since its inception in 1990. Bucknell’s Jesse Klug was named the Scholar-Athlete last year, Jonathan Hemmert received the honor in back-to-back seasons in 2003-’04 and Greg Beatty garnered the award in back-to-back seasons in 1993-’94. An Albany, N.Y. native, Rockmore owns a 3.77 cumulative grade-point average and is majoring in Economics. He has been a member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and is a member of Bucknell’s Leadership Academy. Rockmore was also one of three Bison selected to attend the U.S. Naval Academy Leadership Conference in January 2016.
A defender for the Bison, Rockmore is a two-time All-League selection and has scored three goals in addition to helping the team to three shutouts this season. As the fifth seed in Tuesday’s quarterfinal contest at Boston University -- which came down to penalty kicks -- the Bison held a 3-1 advantage with the senior on deck. He found the back of the net and secured a spot in Friday’s semifinals for Bucknell.
In addition to Rockmore, four All-Academic selections were also named to the All-League team announced on Monday, including two second-team members and two third-team.
Rockmore’s teammate, senior forward Sebastiaan Blickman, a Political Science and Spanish double major with a 3.65 GPA, is a two-time Academic All-League selection and was named second team All-League on Monday. Colgate senior midfielder Colin O’Neil, a Political Science major with a 3.26 GPA, was also named to the second team.
Lehigh senior defender Justin Worley, a two-time Academic All-League selection, earned third team All-League honors and is a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award. He is studying Psychology and holds a 3.68 GPA. Army West Point defender Christian Clark joined Worley on the third team and also received Academic All-League recognition last season. He is a Physics major with a 3.894 GPA.
Lafayette junior goalkeeper Brad Seeber, an Economics major with a 3.50 GPA, earns Academic All-League honors for a second straight year, while American junior forward Garrett Muzikowski (Mathematics and Economics, 3.93) and Holy Cross junior forward Arno Rupp (Economics & Math, 3.74) were named CoSIDA Academic All-District earlier this month.
Loyola Maryland seniors Brennan Goldsmith (Business Administration, 3.874), Laurin Vogel (Business Administration/International Business, 3.664), and Navy junior Daniel Zaremba (Economics, 3.32) round out the Academic All-League accolades.
To be eligible for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and the Academic All-Patriot League Team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and be a starter or key player in his/her sport. Freshmen or students in their first academic year at their school are not eligible for the honor.
The Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for each individual sport comprises the pool of nominees for the Patriot League Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards given out over the summer. One male and one female are selected for this honor.
Patriot League Corvias Men’s Soccer Scholar Athlete: Zack Rockmore, Bucknell
Academic All-League
Garrett Muzikowski, American, Jr. #
Christian Clark, Army West Point, Sr. &@
Sebastiaan Blickman, Bucknell, Sr. @^
Zack Rockmore, Bucknell, Sr. %
Colin O’Neill, Colgate, Sr. ^
Arno Rupp, Holy Cross, Jr. #
Brad Seeber, Lafayette, Jr. @
Justin Worley, Lehigh, Sr. &@$
Brennan Goldsmith, Loyola Maryland, Sr.
Laurin Vogel, Loyola Maryland, Sr.
Daniel Zaremba, Navy, Jr.
% - First-Team All-Patriot League
^ - Second-Team All-Patriot League
& - Third-Team All-Patriot League
# - CoSIDA Academic All-District
@ - 2015 Academic All-League selection
$ - Senior CLASS Award Finalist