William and Mary women’s soccer standout Mallory Schaffer and men’s cross country star Alex McGrath each were named the Colonial Athletic Association’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year recently for their respective sports.
Schaffer, a senior midfielder and captain for the Tribe this fall, became the first player in CAA history to repeat as Conference Player of the Year after finishing third in the conference in both points (23) and goals (10) this season. For her efforts in the classroom, Schaffer was a 2012 National Soccer Coaches Association of America First-Team Scholar All-American.
Last Friday’s announcement was also a historic one for McGrath, who became just the third cross country runner in conference history to sweep all three major accolades- CAA Champion, Athlete of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
McGrath, whose winning time at the CAA Championships (24:01) shattered the former Eastern State course record (24:12) set by Brian Hyde in 1996, was honored as CAA Runner of the Week twice during the regular season.
Read more on both athletes at TribeAthletics.com.
