Ten Student-Athletes Earn Fall Academic All-Ivy Honors

HANOVER, N.H. – Ten Dartmouth student-athletes were honored with 2015 Academic All-Ivy League honors for the fall season, the conference office announced on Tuesday afternoon.

To qualify for a spot on the league's top academic team, a student-athlete must make a substantial contribution to their team in addition to maintaining at least a 3.0 grade point average. This fall, the Big Green saw eight seniors and two juniors earn the distinction for this most recent time period.

Seniors Ryan McManus of the football team and Dovydas Sakinis of the men's tennis teams each earned the honor for the second straight year. McManus was an All-Ivy League and All-New England First Team wide receiver in addition to All-Ivy Second Team return specialist. A history major with a 3.39 GPA, the Mendota Heights, Minnesota, native ranks third all-time at Dartmouth in receptions and fourth in receiving yards.

Sakinis became the first men's tennis player to win the ITA Northeast Regional title since 1992, automatically qualifying for the ITA National Indoor Championship where he dropped his first-round match, but went on to defeat three opponents, two of whom were ranked, before falling in the consolation final all while earning a 3.57 GPA and majoring in both economics and Russian studies.

Joining Sakinis from the tennis courts was junior Taylor Ng of the women's team, who is a dual economics and anthropology major and boasts an overall GPA of 3.79. Ng and Kristina Mathis won the ITA Northeast Regional title and qualified for the ITA National Indoor Championship, winning three matches and defeating the No. 2 seeded team before falling in the semifinals.

Senior Jacob Flores also joins his teammate McManus in earning the academic recognition as the religion major has a 3.39 GPA. An All-Ivy League and All-New England First Team player on the offensive line, the Arlington, Texas, native anchored the line that helped Dartmouth's offense average 29 points and 410 yards a game.

The Dartmouth soccer teams were represented by Stefan Cleveland on the men's side and Jill Dayneka on the women's.

Cleveland — an engineering studies major with a 3.71 GPA — was named the 2015 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and tabbed for the 2015 Academic All-American Second Team as selected by CoSIDA. Cleveland recorded an impressive nine shutouts to complement a 9-4-1 record in his final season with the Big Green, helping the team to an Ivy League title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Dayneka is majoring in economics with a 3.62 GPA and just finished her final season for the Big Green. The native of Solon, Ohio, proved to be a key member of a Dartmouth defensive unit that surrendered just 11 goals this fall. She also had a strong presence on offense, netting four goals and registering eight points as a senior.

Besides Ng, Emily Astarita of the volleyball team was the only other junior to find her name among Dartmouth's recipients. The Setauket, New York, native was an All-Ivy First Team player, ending the year with a career-high and conference-leading 350 kills, which has her seventh in the all-time record book, while her 3.98 kills per set places her second. In addition to her outstanding numbers on the court, she also has a solid figure in the classroom with a 3.64 GPA as a neuroscience major.

Another neuroscience major to make the list this fall was Eliza Becker of the field hockey team. A senior and co-captain, Becker has a 3.79 GPA to go along with All-Ivy League First Team and the NFHCA All-Northeast Region Second Team honors for 2015. The native of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, set career highs in goals (6), assists (14) and points (26) in her final season wearing the green and white.

Cross country saw seniors Brian Masterson on the men's side and Sarah Bennett of the women's team also be honored for their performances on the course and in the classroom this fall. Bennett was 54th at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championship in late October and 10th at the season-opening Dartmouth Invitational, while earning a 3.91 cumulative GPA as a biology major.

Masterson hails from Seattle and currently has an impressive 3.98 GPA majoring in biological chemistry. After claiming sixth place at Heps, Masterson was honored as an All-Ivy League First Team member. The senior also began the fall by winning the Dartmouth Invitational in September.

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