Former Red Flash Reifsteck Named an NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Somerset, N.J. – Former Red Flash field hockey goalkeeper Erin Reifsteck (Battle Creek, Mich./Saint Phillip) has been named one of four 2008-09 Scholar Athletes of the Year by the Northeast Conference, as announced by the league on Tuesday.

Also honored were Monmouth men’s tennis player Benjamin Evenden, Sacred Heart distance runner Kathleen Henry and Robert Morris field athlete Tara Maxwell.

The four former student-athletes receive the accolade as a result of their exceptional grade-point averages (GPA). The award, sponsored by the league’s Faculty Athletic Representatives, is bestowed upon an NEC male and female student-athlete who have exhausted their eligibility, graduated, and posted the highest GPA in the Conference at the conclusion of the academic year.

Evenden, Reifsteck, Henry, and Maxwell all came within a fraction of attaining a perfect 4.00 GPA as each of the four posted matching 3.99 marks. 

Shortly after becoming the third woman in Saint Francis history to twice earn ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America honors - she was a second team honoree in 2008-09, following third team accolades in 2007-08 - Reifsteck now earns recognition as the Red Flash’s first female recipient of the NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.  She excelled in her studies as a Psychology major at Saint Francis while playing field hockey at a level worthy of All-Northeast Conference recognition. 

Leading the NEC in saves per game for a second consecutive year, Reifsteck, a second  team all-NEC goalkeeper, averaged the second-highest save total (8.83 per game) in the NCAA Division I ranks this past season.  Her Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor coincides with Saint Francis winning the 2008-09 NEC Institutional Academic Award, which is presented to the league member with the highest overall institutional grade point average for student-athletes competing in NEC sponsored sports.