Rice Athletics Honors C-USA Scholar-Athletes

HOUSTON, Texas — Adolfo Carvalho, Scott Filip, Lindsey Hodge, Mitchell Meissner, Erica Ogwumike, Elsa Racasan, Eric Rutledge and Marie Claire Schilinger have all been named recipients of the 2017-18 Conference USA Scholar Athlete of the Year awards for their respective sports, C-USA Faculty Athletics Representatives announced Thursday afternoon.

Rice led the league with eight Scholar-Athlete selections, which tied both the school and conference record, set in 2011, Charlotte, Middle Tennessee and WKU followed with two apiece.

Carvalho, a redshirt junior from Cockeysville, Md., was named to the 2017-18 C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll while competing in five cross country races, highlighted by a 25^th-place finish at the C-USA Championships. This is Carvalho's first career C-USA Scholar Athlete of the Year Award.

A five-time All-American, Rice graduate Scott Filip (men's track & field) earned the 2018 C-USA Field Athlete of the Year Award while garnering All-American honors in both the outdoor and indoor seasons. He also added to his prestigious C-USA record book by winning both the heptathlon and decathlon titles, his sixth and seventh career victories. Filip was also the Jim Castaneda Postgraduate Scholarship winner and earned spots on the USTFCCCA and C-USA All-Academic Teams. He began his graduate education in global affairs last year.

Hodge (women's tennis) became the third women's tennis player to earn Academic All-American honors this past year, earning a place on the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America® Division I Women's At-Large second team. She graduated from Rice with a 4.02 GPA in sport management with a business minor and was a four-time C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal honoree. She served as Rice's SAAC President during the 2017-18 academic year. On the court, Hodge was the Owls primary player at the first position in both singles and doubles the past three years and was a first team all-conference selection in both singles and doubles three times in her career. She was twice honored as the Outstanding Doubles of the C-USA Championship (2015, 2017) as well as Outstanding Singles of the 2017 Championship and led Rice to three C-USA titles and four NCAA appearances.

Meissner (men's golf), a native of San Antonio, led the team with a 71.65 strokes per round while recording three top five and six top 10 finishes. He earned back-to-back victories at the Ryman Hospitality Intercollegiate and the Conference USA Championship, becoming just the second C-USA Champion from Rice. Meissner is a two-time member of the Conference USA All-Academic Team and a Cleveland Golf Srixon All-America Scholar. He closed his career tying for eighth-place at the NCAA Bryan Regional, the best individual finish for an Owl since regional play began in 1989. Meissner graduated this past May with a degree in Sports Management and Mathematical Economic Analysis.

Ogwumike (women's basketball), a junior guard from Cypress, Texas, became the first Owl to ever earn C-USA Newcomer of the Year honors following a season in which she was selected to the C-USA First Team and All-Defensive Team. In addition, Ogwumike was named to the C-USA All-Academic Team and was a 2017-18 CoSIDA Academic All-District awardee. She ranked fourth in C-USA in scoring (17.9 ppg), third in rebounding (9.3 rpg) and ninth in steals (1.8 spg) while her 574 points ranked second in Rice history (single-season). Ogwumike, who posted a 3.86 GPA, becomes the first Rice women's basketball player to earn a C-USA Scholar Athlete of the Year award.

Racasan (women's cross country), a redshirt senior from Lugrin, France, maintained a 4.11 GPA and earned a spot on the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America Women's Track/Cross Country First Team (CoSIDA). In addition, Racasan was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team following a season in which she placed ninth at the C-USA Cross Country Championships. Racasan is one of three repeat winners in this year's C-USA Scholar Athlete of the Year class.

Rutledge (men's tennis) is a triple major in Sport Management, Managerial Studies and Economics along with a business minor and carries a carries a 3.68 GPA and was a C-USA All-Academic selection last year. On the court, he led the Owls with a 12-6 record in singles, including an 11-5 mark at the top of the lineup, which were the most wins on the first singles line by an Owl since 2010.

Schillinger (women's swimming & diving) represented Rice in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events at the NCAA Championships each of the past two seasons where she holds both of the individual school records. The Orinda, Calif., native maintained a 3.77 grade point average pursuing a double major in Kinesiology and Psychology.

The C-USA Scholar Athlete of the Year awards are presented to the top student-athletes in each conference-sponsored sport, determined by a vote of the league's 14 FARs. The award is based on academic achievement (GPA), athletic achievement and service.

Scholar-athletes were selected from C-USA's full-time and affiliate institutions in 19 sports.

2017-18 SCHOLAR ATHLETE AWARD WINNERS:
Baseball: Nick Sandlin, Southern Miss
Men's Basketball: Ed Simpson, Middle Tennessee
Women's Basketball: Erica Ogwumike, Rice
Men's Cross Country: Adolfo Carvalho, Rice
Women's Cross Country: *Elsa Racasan, Rice
Football: *Brent Stockstill, Middle Tennessee
Men's Golf: Mitchell Meissner, Rice
Women's Golf: Maggie Simmermacher, Old Dominion
Men's Soccer: Jason Beaulieu, New Mexico #
Women's Soccer: Martha Thomas, Charlotte
Softball: *Haley Pace, Charlotte
Women's Swimming & Diving: Anna Lynch, Marshall & Marie-Claire Schillinger, Rice
Men's Tennis: Eric Rutledge, Rice
Women's Tennis: Lindsey Hodge, Rice
Men's Track & Field: Scott Filip, Rice
Women's Track & Field: Morgan McIntyre, WKU
Volleyball: Jessica Lucas, WKU

* Repeat winner
# Affiliate member

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