Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell?s Schiappa, Spring Named to Patriot League Men?s Lacrosse All-Academic Team
4/27/2016 4:41:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell senior Alex Spring and junior Mike Schiappa were named to the Men's Lacrosse Academic All-Patriot League Team on Wednesday. The two Bison are both key members of the team's defensive unit, and both are also getting it done in the classroom at Bucknell.
A long-stick defensive midfielder, Spring was a Second Team All-Patriot League selection earlier in the week, his second career all-conference citation. He was an Honorable Mention All-American coming into the season, and he was selected by the Florida Launch in the Major League Lacrosse Draft in January.
Spring is also one of the nation's top long-pole ground ball artists. This season, Spring has a team-high 73 ground balls, and his average of 5.2 per game ranks third in the Patriot League and 19th nationally. Spring's 258 career ground balls rank second in Bucknell history and 10th in Patriot League history. The 73 ground balls are tied for 10th-most in a season at Bucknell.
A member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, Spring is a classics major with a 3.36 cumulative grade-point average.
Schiappa is in his third season as a starting close defenseman for the Bison. He has started 37 consecutive games while helping the Bison rank among the league leaders in scoring defense. This year's squad is giving up only 9.2 goals per game.
Schiappa has 14 ground balls and nine caused turnovers on the season. Off the field, he majors in biomedical engineering, where he has maintained a stellar 3.71 GPA. Schiappa earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in the 2015 spring semester, and last fall he was profiled in Inside Lacrosse for a feature titled “4.0 and Go: A week in the lives of two D-I players with serious ambition” about two of the top scholar-athletes in the country.
To be eligible for the 12-man Academic All-Patriot League Team, a student-athlete must have a 3.20 GPA or better, and be a starter or key reserve on his/her team. Army West Point's Austin Schultz, who started his career at Bucknell, was named the 2016 Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
