Penn State Recognizes 32 Brandywine Student-Athletes With Academic Honors

MEDIA, Pa. -- Nearly 250 Penn State Brandywine students, including 32 student-athletes, were honored on Tuesday night during the campus' annual academic achievement recognition ceremony. Twelve of Brandywine's 16 varsity sports were represented among the award winners.

Penn State annually recognizes students on each of its campuses who hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 or greater with the Academic Achievement Award. Brandywine students have been honored with the accolade every year since the 1982-83 academic year.

The Brandywine softball team, winners of three-straight conference championships, and the two-time defending PSUAC champion women's soccer team led the way as both has seven student-athletes earn accolades.

Because the softball team had a home doubleheader scheduled for Tuesday evening, Penn State Brandywine Chancellor Dr. Kristin Woolever made a special trip to the field to present the award winners with their certificates prior to game one {pictured above}.

Among Brandywine's seven softball student-athletes honored was junior Maddie Malfara (Ardsley, Pa./Abington), who also received the D'Iorio Family Research Award, which is annually presented to a student for involvement in undergraduate research at Penn State Brandywine. Malfara recently took first place at the Exhibition of Undergraduate Research Enterprise and Creative Accomplishment on campus for her research titled "The Single Mitochondrion of Crithidia fasciculata is a Dynamic Network." A biology major, Malfara plans to pursue a career in medicine upon graduation in 2019.

Three student-athletes from both the men's and women's tennis teams and the baseball team garnered academic achievement awards, while men's soccer and men's track & field saw two members of the team accept honors.

In addition, six of the 27 freshmen who claimed the President's Freshman Award were student-athletes: Matt Canavati (men's tennis), Kayla Corrente (softball), Ashley Dotey (softball), Victor Ficarra (men's tennis), Caleb Madison (men's track & field) and Connor Sadoff (golf).

The President's Freshman Award is presented annually to undergraduate students who have earned a 4.0 grade-point average based on at least 12 Penn State credits following the conclusion of the fall semester.

Academic Achievement Award Winners: