NE10 Academic All-Conference selections

RINDGE, N.H. (July 13, 2017) – Franklin Pierce University has had two student-athletes earn Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference honors for the spring season, as announced on Thursday by the Conference office. Junior John Amendola (Wallingford, Conn.) of the baseball team, along with senior Jon Holmes (Albany, N.Y.) of the men's track & field team, were both honored by the league. The selected Ravens were among 93 student-athletes across 10 sports honored by the NE10.

To be eligible for selection to the Academic All-Conference Team, a student-athlete must fulfill each of the following criteria: (1) participated in at least half of the team's competitions as a starter or significant contributor, (2) achieved a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale), and (3) completed at least one academic year at his/her current institution. The teams are chosen by the vote of a committee of athletic administrators and Faculty Athletic Representatives. In addition, one honoree in each sport is selected as the NE10's Sport Excellence award winner in that sport.

For Holmes, it marked the third straight Academic All-Conference selection in outdoor track & field, and was his sixth career selection, as he was also honored twice in indoor track & field and once in cross country. Amendola earned his first Academic All-Conference selection in the first year he was eligible to be recognized.

Holmes finished his undergraduate degree in graphic communications with a 3.81 GPA. In the outdoor season, he as a member of the 4x800-meter relay squad which claimed the NE10 title. Individually, he took fourth in the 800 meters at the NE10 Championships, by turning in a time of 1:54.25. Earlier in the spring, Holmes earned his third straight selection to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team.

Amendola wrapped up his fourth semester at Franklin Pierce with a 3.76 GPA as a business major. He was the team's most consistent starting pitcher this spring, in terms of run-prevention, and picked up All-East Region Second Team honors from the Conference Commissioners Association, as well as an All-East Region Honorable Mention from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. An All-NE10 First Team selection, Amendola logged a team-high 78 innings on the mound over 12 appearances, including 10 starts, three complete games and two shutouts. He struck out 69, against just eight walks, and finished among the top-10 pitchers in the country in walks per nine innings (0.92), strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.63) and WHIP (0.94). Amendola earned an Academic All-District Team selection from CoSIDA earlier this spring.

One curious absence from the NE10 Academic All-Conference selections was baseball graduate student right-hander Tanner Bird, who was named a CoSIDA Academic All-America selection for the second year in a row in June. Of 14 NE10 student-athletes to earn Academic All-America honors this spring, Bird is one of just two who did not also receive Academic All-Conference accolades from the league. Adriana Carrasco, a senior All-Region performer in track & field at Southern Connecticut State, was also absent from the list of NE10 honorees, despite the recognition at the national level.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics).