June 21, 2004

While at George Mason University, senior shortstop Jeff Palumbo dedicated himself to being the best both on the baseball field and in the classroom. On Monday, he was recognized for his dual excellence when he was named the Colonial Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Baseball.

Palumbo made the Dean's List at George Mason in seven of his eight semesters and was selected as the school's Student-Athlete of the Year for 2003-04. The administration of justice major was also the CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year in baseball in 2003. Palumbo had an outstanding year on the field, earning first-team All-CAA accolades and receiving the CAA Defensive Player of the Year award for the second year in a row. Palumbo led the conference with a .402 batting average and 81 runs scored this season. He set school single-season marks for hits (96) and runs and also set Mason career records for hits, runs, at-bats, games played and games started. Palumbo was selected in the 15th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the San Francisco Giants.

The conference honors one Scholar-Athlete in each of its 21 championship sports. Nominees for the award must be a starter or important reserve on their team and must meet the Academic All-America minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.20. The winners were selected by a vote of the sports information directors at each CAA institution.