Snyder, Shaheen Named 2016-17 GLIAC Scholar-Athletes Of The Year

Snyder, Shaheen Named 2016-17 GLIAC Scholar-Athletes Of The Year

LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE 

LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL PAGE

LINK – ALL-TIME GLIAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

Ashland University has swept the 2016-17 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, as a pair of juniors – women's basketball forward Laina Snyder and football tight end Adam Shaheen – have earned the honors.

Snyder helped the Eagles win their second NCAA Division II national championship, and to the first 37-0 record in D-II women's basketball history. She was named the Elite Eight Most Outstanding Player after a three-game stretch in which she averaged 22.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.7 steals, and shot 58.0 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the free-throw line.

This past season, Snyder led the Eagles in scoring (17.4 ppg.), rebounding (8.8 rpg.) and steals (101), while also averaging 3.6 assists per contest and hitting 51.6 percent from the floor and 80.0 percent from the charity stripe. Her impressive junior campaign led to the following honors – Division II Basketball Bulletin Player of the Year, first-team All-American from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA) and Basketball Bulletin; second-team College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America, All-Midwest Region tournament team, D2CCA Midwest Region Player of the Year, first-team D2CCA all-region, GLIAC Player of the Year, first-team All-GLIAC, All-GLIAC Defensive team, winter GLIAC Commissioner's Award, CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-GLIAC Academic Excellence.

Snyder also was featured in the "Faces In The Crowd" section of the May 1 issue of Sports Illustrated.

Through her junior year, Snyder has a 3.91 cumulative grade-point average as a Business Management major.

Shaheen boasted a junior campaign in which he caught an Ashland-record and NCAA Division II single-season tight end-record 16 touchdown passes as a junior in 2016, and grabbed 57 passes for 867 yards overall.

Among Shaheen's other 2016 honors are a 2016 GLIAC Commissioner's award, first-team American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), D2CCA and D2Football.com first-team All-American; D2CCA and Don Hansen first-team All-Super Region 4, CoSIDA first-team Academic All-America, CoSIDA first-team Academic All-District, All-GLIAC first-team and a Harlon Hill Trophy (D-II Player of the Year) nomination.

On Oct. 10, 2016, Shaheen was the first tight end in GLIAC history to win the conference's Offensive Player of the Week award.

Shaheen was drafted with the No. 45 overall pick (second round) by Chicago in the 2017 National Football League Draft on April 28. He has a 3.67 cumulative GPA in Business Administration.

Snyder and Shaheen become the fourth and fifth Eagles to earn GLIAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. This is the second time Ashland has swept both awards, as Kari Daugherty (women's basketball) and Garrett Grey (men's track and field) both earned the honors in 2012-13.

The GLIAC has awarded Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors since 2007-08, and Ashland has more honorees than any other conference school.

 

ALL-TIME ASHLAND UNIVERSITY GLIAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

NAME

SCHOOL YEAR

SPORT

Laina Snyder

2016-17

Women's basketball

Adam Shaheen

2016-17

Football

Jessica Bridenthal

2014-15

Women's track and field

Kari Daugherty

2012-13

Women's basketball

Garrett Grey

2012-13

Men's track and field

 
 

AU

GEN/DS