St. John's Wingert takes men's honor; both are Hermann Trophy finalists

Joanna Lohman (Silver Spring, Md.), a senior midfielder from Penn State University has become the first player, either male or female, to repeat as the recipient of the NSCAA/adidas College Scholar Athlete of the Year in the eight-year history of the award. She is joined by Chris Wingert (Babylon, N.Y.), a senior defender from St. John’s University, who was selected for the men’s award.

Lohman was the NSCAA/adidas Scholar Athlete of the Year as a junior. This season, in addition to leading the Nittany Lions to a 19-3-3 record and the NCAA quarterfinals, she also maintained her cumulative GPA at an impressive 3.97. A starter in all 25 matches in 2003, she scored 19 goals and had six assists for a total of 44 points, winning Big Ten Player of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten honors. She closed out her career ranked No. 2 in the PSU record book in shots (325) and assists (36), No. 4 in points (110) and No. 5 in goals (37) and game-winning goals (14). She rewrote the PSU senior season record for goals with 15. She also is a finalist for the Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy along with North Carolina’s Catherine Reddick and Lindsay Tarpley.

A two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year, Wingert also is a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, the highest individual honor in intercollegiate soccer. A senior defender, he helped lead St. John’s to the NCAA championship game by providing rock-steady work in the back line for the Red Storm defense, which posted 10 shutouts in its 26 matches. He scored three goals this season, boosting his career total to 12. He had a string of 75 consecutive starts for St. John’s broken when he missed the match against Connecticut on Oct. 15 to play with the U.S. Men’s U-23 National Team, which will comprise the core of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team. He has a 3.82 GPA, majoring in communication arts. Wingert is joined by Maryland’s Sumed Ibrahim and Coastal Carolina’s Joseph Ngwenya, last year’s Scholar Athlete of the year, as finalists for the Hermann Trophy.

Lohman and Wingert will travel to the Missouri Athletic Club for the formal announcement of the winners of the Hermann Trophy on Jan. 9. The two also will be honored at the NSCAA/adidas All-America Luncheon, to be held Saturday, Jan. 17, as part of the 2004 NSCAA Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

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