FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU Athletics Department has announced its sixth pair of 2020-21 monthly academic honorees. Swimming & Diving sophomore
Hannah VanDress and baseball redshirt sophomore
Brian Ellis have been named the Scholar-Athletes of the Month for January.
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.
VanDress (Cape Coral, Fla./Bishop Verot) is an Exercise Science major and carries a 3.82 GPA. She's a three-time Athletic Director's Honor Roll member, two-time Dean's List honoree, and has made the President's List once.
Against FIU earlier in the season, VanDress claimed first place in the 1000 free, accounting for FGCU's fourth individual victory that day. A few weeks ago in a CCSA meet vs North Florida, the sophomore helped ignite FGCU capture seven-straight events as she took first in the 1650 free, winning by nearly eight seconds.
"Hannah's positivity and energy are absolutely infectious, "said head coach
Dave Rollins. "She is one of our hardest workers both in and out of the pool and her energy and work ethic does not go unnoticed by her teammates or coaches. There are some special things lining up in her future, it will be fun to watch."
Ellis (Oviedo, Fla./Hagerty HS) is a Health Science major and carries a 3.76 GPA. He's a seven-time Athletic Director's Honor Roll member, three-time Dean's List honoree, and has made the President's List twice.
Ellis was one of four Eagles to make a start in each of the 16 games before the season was cut short due to COVID-19. In those 16 games, Ellis was second in batting average hitting at a .321-clip with four doubles, one triple, and five RBI. His .493 on-base percentage was a team-best as he led the team in stolen bases (7-for-7) and walks (14).
"Brian continues to excel in the classroom and in the community," said head coach
Dave Tollett. "He is one of the most special student-athletes I've coached in my 33 years."
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)
December – Tyra Cox (Women's Basketball) and Aiden Jokomba (Men's Soccer)
January –
Hannah VanDress (Swimming & Diving) and
Brian Ellis (Baseball)
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.
