May 15, 2007

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Lewis University's Mary Moskal (basketball) and Andy Tremble (cross country/track and field) have been selected to receive the Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award, which is presented annually to one female and one male Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) student athlete who display high levels of academic excellence, athletic achievement, character and leadership.

The Paragon Award was established in honor of Richard F. Scharf, GLVC Commissioner from 1983-92 and the league's current Commissioner Emeritus.

Moskal is Lewis' first female Paragon Award recipient. Tremble's selection is the third for a Flyer male student athlete, tying Lewis with Bellarmine, Northern Kentucky and Southern Indiana for the most male recipients in the award's 17-year history. James Limna (1997) and Arturo Cabral (2002) are Lewis' other Paragon Award honorees.

The selection of Moskal and Tremble marks just the second time that an institution has produced both female and male Paragon Award winners in the same year. Tia Glass and Mark Scheidler achieved the sweep for Saint Joseph's in 1993.

Earlier this year Moskal received a prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarship and was named to the Academic All-America first team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She was chosen GLVC women's basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2005 and 2006.

Moskal, a biology major, is a four-time recipient of the Brother David Delahanty Award for academic excellence by a Lewis student athlete, a four-time Academic All-GLVC honoree, an eight-time Lewis Deans' List student and a three-time choice to the CoSIDA Academic All-District first team.

On the court, Moskal distinguished herself as one of the top players in Lewis women's basketball history. This season she was named All-America honorable mention, All-Great Lakes Region first team, All-GLVC first team and Most Valuable Player of the GLVC Championship tournament.

Moskal earned GLVC Player of the Year accolades and a spot on the All-Great Lakes Region first team in her junior season and was an all-region and all-conference second-team choice as a sophomore. A six-time GLVC Player of the Week, she holds Lewis records for free throws made and free throws attempted in a game, season and career; career games played and started; and career minutes played.

The Lewis women's basketball team enjoyed unprecedented success during Moskal's four-year tenure. This season the Flyers captured the GLVC championship, made a third successive NCAA Division II Championship tournament appearance, earned the No. 12 national ranking, won a school-record 28 games (28-4) and assembled a school-record 13-game winning streak.

Lewis posted a winning record in each of Moskal's four seasons and was a combined 82-38 (.683) overall and 59-20 (.747) in conference games.

Tremble, a nursing major, earned GLVC men's cross country Scholar Athlete of the Year recognition the past two seasons. He is a four-time recipient of Lewis' Delahanty Award, a four-time Academic All-GLVC honoree, a five-time Lewis Deans' List student and a two-time selection to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association all-academic team.

Tremble collected cross country All-America honors twice, finishing 17th as a senior and 32nd as a junior at the NCAA Championship. He made the All-GLVC team three times, including twice as conference champion (2005, 2006), and was 2003 GLVC Freshman of the Year. A three-time GLVC Runner of the Week, Tremble garnered All-Great Lakes Region accolades twice, placing second as a senior and sixth as a junior at the NCAA regional meet.

On the track, Tremble twice was an All-American in the indoor distance medley relay, helping the Flyers finish third this season and sixth last year at the NCAA Championship. The DMR squad set a school record several times including the current standard of 9:51.51.

Among Tremble's six All-GLVC track awards are league titles in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters outdoors in 2005 and the mile indoors in 2007. In Chicagoland Championships competition he was indoor 5,000 meters champion in 2004 and 2006, indoor 3,000 meters champion in 2005 and 2007, indoor distance medley relay champion in 2005 and outdoor 5,000 meters champion in 2006.

Lewis' cross country and track teams registered eight top-three finishes in GLVC Championship competition during Tremble's four years, including the 2004 cross country title and the 2005 indoor track championship.