Wingate’s Lawson, Mars Hill’s Viscusi Voted as SAC Track and Field Scholar-Athletes

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Wingate senior James Lawson and Mars Hill junior Jessica Viscusi have been chosen as the first SAC Track and Field Scholar-Athletes of the Year in conference history.

Lawson, an English major at Wingate, carries a 3.95 GPA. He is a three-year member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll as a cross country student-athlete and a four year member of the University Honors Program. He has also been a recipient of the Frances Vick English Award and a WU summer research grant.

On the track, Lawson placed seventh in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase at the inaugural Food Lion SAC Track and Field Championship earlier this month.

Lawson is active on campus, serving as a two-term president of Phi Eta Sigma, a resident assistant and an academic tutor. He is also a member of the English Advisory Board and a student committee charged with assisting with the selection of a new dean. He volunteers with Make-a-Wish, United Way Day of Caring and Campus Outreach ministry.

Viscusi holds a 3.82 GPA at Mars Hill majoring in chemistry. She has been selected to the MHU Dean's List, the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, the Chemistry Honor Club and the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team, and is a three-time recipient of the Marshbanks-Anderson Honor Scholarship.

At the SAC Championship, Viscusi won the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, finished second in the pole vault and 1,500-meter run, and third in the 800-meter run.

Viscusi is involved on campus as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, a Bonner Scholar and secretary of the Chemistry Honor Club. She also gives her time to groups that include Habitat for Humanity, Asheville-Buncombe community crisis ministry, Swain County Recreation Park and Madison County Day of Service.

SAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards are voted on by the conference's Faculty Athletic Representatives committee, and are presented to one student-athlete in each of the league's 18 sports.

Also considered:

Heidi Kaartinen, Brevard

Keeley Wood, Wingate

Anna Bauder, Carson-Newman

Jill Baxter, Anderson

Grace Turner, Lenoir-Rhyne