April 20, 2010
RICHMOND, Va. - Two George Mason student-athletes have been recognized by the Colonial Athletic Association for their successes not just in competition but in the classroom as well, as junior Angelee LaTouche and redshirt senior Eric Knight were named the Scholar-Athlete Award winners for women's basketball, and men's swimming/diving, respectively.
George Mason was the only CAA institution with multiple award winners from the winter season, as the duo of LaTouche and Knight was joined by Northeastern senior Baptiste Bataille in men's basketball, UNC Wilmington senior Caitlin Kirsteier in women's swimming and diving and Old Dominion junior James Nicholson in wrestling.
A junior majoring in accounting, LaTouche earned a spot on the CAA women's basketball All-Academic first team in 2009-10. The Kingston, Jamaica native is a recipient of the CAA Commissioner's Academic Award and has also made the George Mason Athletic Director's honor roll.
On the floor, LaTouche started 28 games in the Patriots' frontcourt. She contributed 4.6 points per game and led George Mason and ranked 17th in the CAA in rebounding with 6.1 boards per contest. LaTouche was also third on the team in assists (43) and blocked shots (19).
A graduate student who is working on a Master's degree in Public Administration, Knight has received the CAA Commissioner's Academic Award multiple times and has been a member of the George Mason Athletic Director's Honor Roll. The Centreville, Va., native graduated last year with cum laude honors, earning a degree in government.
In the pool, Knight was chosen as the Outstanding Male Swimmer at the 2010 CAA Championship. He set new school, meet and pool records in winning the 100 freestyle with a time of 44.06, and set meet and program records in capturing the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:35.85.
For the 2009-10 academic year, Mason has now picked up three Scholar-Athlete awards as senior Richard Edgar was tabbed the Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's soccer in December.
The conference honors one Scholar-Athlete in each of its 22 championship sports. Nominees for the award must be a starter or important reserve on their team and must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25. The winners were selected by a vote of the sports information directors at each CAA institution.
