Abelson, Fitzpatrick and Grammes Named BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award Winners

NEW YORK - Three Musketeers were named the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence award winners for their respective sports, honoring their academic and athletic achievement as well as community service. Sophia Abelson of women's tennis, Mikayla Fitzpatrick of women's golf and Conor Grammes of baseball were all honored.

The Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Awards are given to one student-athlete in each BIG EAST-sponsored sport based on academic credentials, athletic accolades or performances and volunteer service to the community. Student-athletes who have attained junior academic standing and a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 are eligible. The winners are chosen by the BIG EAST Faculty Athletics Representative Council.

Xavier women's tennis' Sophia Abelson completed her senior year with a cumulative GPA of 3.829 in Entrepreneurial Studies.

Abelson played primarily No. 2 singles and doubles for the 2019 team that went 22-3, winning a school-record matching 20 straight matches, earning 2019 All-BIG EAST First Team All-BIG EAST accolades. Abelson was also a part of the 2016 BIG EAST Champion squad which made the program's first NCAA Tournament apperance.

Abelson was also Xavier's BIG EAST SAAC representative, and was a four-time BIG EAST All-Academic Team honoree and four-time International Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar-Athlete.

Mikayla Fitzpatrick of Xavier women's golf earned the honor with a cumulative GPA of 3.936. She completed undergraduate coursework in three years and graduated Summa Cum Laude and is now studying for her MBA.

Fitzpatrick is the 2019 BIG EAST Women's Golf Player of the Year after winning the 2019 BIG EAST Women's Golf Championship Individual title, helping lead the team to the program's first BIG EAST team title and NCAA Regional berth, where Fitzpatrick advanced to the NCAA Championships as an individual. Fitzpatrick finished the season ranked No. 1 in the BIG EAST player standings. For her career, she is a three-time All-BIG EAST honoree, and was the 2017 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. She also qualified for the U.S. Golf Association Women's Amateur Four-Ball in 2016 and 2017;

Fitzpatrick was Xavier's 2019 BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as well as a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honor Society. She is a three-time BIG EAST All-Academic team honoree and three-time Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-America Scholar-Athlete.

Xavier baseball's Conor Grammes posted a cumulative GPA of 3.722 in finance at Xavier, while excelling on the field as a Musketeer. Grammes was a unanimous selection to the 2019 All-BIG EAST First Team, as well as the 2019 Preseason BIG EAST Co-Player of the Year.

Previously in his Xavier career, Grammes was named the 2017 BIG EAST Tournament MOP as part of the 2017 BIG EAST Baseball Tournament Champions. He's also a two-time BIG EAST Championship All-Tournament Team honoree (2017, 2019). Academically, Grammes was named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District® First Team and is a three-time BIG EAST All-Academic Team honoree.

Grammes, who made a team high 14 starts on the mound and led the team with a batting average of .330 in 2019, was selected in the fifth round of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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