St. John's University Athletics
Wingert Named NSCAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year
12/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Dec. 23, 2003
Jamaica, N.Y. - St. John's University senior defender Chris Wingert (Babylon, N.Y.) was named the Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the National Soccer Association of America, it was announced Monday.
The Red Storm finished the 2003 season with a 17-6-3 record and were ranked No. 2 in the country after losing, 2-1, to Indiana in the NCAA National Championship game. It was the second time in three years the team advanced to the NCAA College Cup. St. John's was the top-seeded team in the league after winning its 11th BIG EAST Championship (combined regular season and tournament) in the last 12 years
The NSCAA Scholar-Athlete Award honors the top male and female student-athletes in Division I soccer. The women's winner was Penn State senior Joanna Lohman.
For Wingert, it was the second national award he won this year, as he was also named the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-American of the Year.
Wingert, the BIG EAST Conference's Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season, has been a dominant force in the BIG EAST and in college soccer since his arrival on campus in 2000. He is also one of three finalists for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy, presented annually to the top player in intercollegiate soccer.
This year, he was tabbed as the league's preseason defensive player of the year and helped St. John's register a league-high 11 shutouts and limit conference opponents to eight goals in 10 games. He was named the league's defensive player of the week three times and earned national player of the week honors from both Soccer America and CollegeSoccerNews.com.
Off the field, he has been equally as successful. A communication arts major with a 3.79 grade-point average, he was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District I team before earning the national award. A member of St. John's prestigious President's Society, Wingert was a CoSIDA Academic All-American first team selection in 2002, and earned third team honors in 2001.
He led the Red Storm to the No. 1 national ranking in the country last year as the team went 13-3-5, reached the BIG EAST semifinals and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the seventh-straight year. Wingert was named the BIG EAST's Defensive Player of the Year and earned first-team All-American honors from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
In 2001, when St. John's won the BIG EAST Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA Final Four with a 17-3-3 record, Wingert was a first-team All-BIG EAST selection. As a freshman, he helped the team to the NCAA Tournament and was a BIG EAST All-Rookie selection.
Lohman and Wingert will travel to the Missouri Athletic Club for the formal announcement of the winners of the Hermann Trophy on Jan. 9. The two also will be honored at the NSCAA/adidas All-America Luncheon, to be held Saturday, Jan. 17, as part of the 2004 NSCAA Convention in Charlotte, N.C.