FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU Athletics Department has announced its fourth pair of 2020-21 monthly academic honorees. Junior swimmer Wiktoria Czarnecka and men's basketball junior Caleb Catto have been named Scholar-Athletes of the Month for November.

A female and male Eagle are chosen as the FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athlete of the Month throughout the academic year. Factors in the selection for this honor include a combination of significant athletic and overall academic success.

Czarnecka (Lublin, Poland/Liceum NR 10 W Lubline) majors in Psychology, while also pursuing a minor in Business Management. She carries a 3.85 GPA, making the Dean's List three time, the Athletic Director's Honor Roll four times and the President's List earlier this spring.

The Poland native picked up a trio of individual wins two weeks ago as the FGCU swimming & diving team opened up its season placing first as the Eagles hosted the FGCU Invitational. Czarnecka took home the 100 fly title with a time of 53.87, swam an NCAA 'B' Cut time in the 50 Free en route to winning the event (22.66) and captured the 100 free crown (49.54). She also helped the Green and Blue complete a perfect weekend in the relay events.  

"Tori has been relentless in her pursuit of excellence in the classroom and in the pool," said head coach Dave Rollins. "She's been maintaining one of our highest GPAs, while also earning top times in the nationally and in the conference. She's only just begun to scratch the surface of her potential. I'm definitely proud of her for receiving this recognition, and looking forward to many more."

Catto (Cape Coral, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy) is an Integrated Studies major with a 3.59 GPA. He's a Dean's List honoree and a four-time Athletic Directors Honor Roll member.

An ASUN All-Preseason conference selection, last weekend in the home-opener versus FAMU, Catto dropped a team-high 13 points to lead the Eagles over the Rattlers, 65-56. In two games thus far, the junior is averaging eight points while leading the Green and Blue in assists with three a game. The men's basketball team returns to the floor this Saturday (Dec. 5) taking on Florida National at 7 p.m.

"Caleb has always done an excellent job in the classroom and is a great example of a leader and a true student-athlete," head coach Michael Fly.  "With as much development as we've seen him have on the court, his desire to be an effective leader and to take advantage of the opportunities presented to him are traits that every coach wants with their young men."

FGCU Scholar-Athletes of the Month
August – Cortney VanLiew (Indoor Volleyball/Beach Volleyball) and Connor Gavigan (Men's Soccer)
September – Zoey Spitzer (Women's Soccer) and Lucas Kiprotich (Men's Cross Country)
October – Snowy Burnam (Indoor Volleyball/Beach Volleyball) and Johnny Long (Baseball)
November – Wiktoria Czarnecka (Swimming & Diving) and Caleb Catto (Men's Basketball)

SUSTAINING FLIGHT 
To help offset the financial impact of COVID-19, FGCU Athletics has launched the Sustaining Flight Fundraiser and Auction. The fundraising campaign will help mitigate operational revenue loss and the additional expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19 protocols. All funds raised during the campaign will go to support areas that directly impact student-athletes.
 
In lieu of hosting the annual Night at the Nest gala this year, one of FGCU's most successful fundraising events, the department will be hosting a virtual, online auction from Monday, Nov. 30 through Friday, Dec. 4. Fans and supporters will be able to bid on exclusive memorabilia, trip packages, unique event experiences and more. For more information, visit www.fgcuathletics.com/sustainingflight. 

E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.